The Ugly Renaissance (84 page)

Fig. 21. Domenico Ghirlandaio,
Expulsion of Joachim
. On the left, Lorenzo Tornabuoni stands alongside Piero di Lorenzo de’ Medici and two other Medicean supporters.
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Fig. 22. Domenico Ghirlandaio,
Apparition of the Angel to Zechariah
. The male Tornabuoni are shown surrounded by powerful figures linked with the Medici regime. In the left foreground, portraits of Marsilio Ficino, Cristoforo Landino, Angelo Poliziano, and Demetrius Chalcondyles have also been included.
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Fig. 23. Paolo Uccello,
Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino at the Battle of San Romano
.
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Fig. 24. Paolo Uccello,
Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino Unseats Bernardino della Ciarda at the Battle of San Romano
.
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Fig. 25. Paolo Uccello,
The Counterattack of Micheletto da Cotignola at the Battle of San Romano
. This three-part depiction of Florence’s victory over Siena in 1432 is a powerful evocation of the violent chaos of Renaissance warfare. It is, however, also a neat illustration of the technological changes that transformed the way armies fought and that paved the way for the rise of mercenary generals.
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Fig. 26. Paolo Uccello,
Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood
. Commissioned by the Florentine Signoria in 1436, this unique monument was a heartfelt expression of esteem for a much-loved mercenary general. But it also testifies to the terror that treacherous and savage condottieri could inspire.
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Fig. 27. Pedro Berruguete,
Portrait of Duke Federico and His Son Guidobaldo
. Originally commissioned for Federico da Montefeltro’s bedchamber in Urbino’s fairy-tale Palazzo Ducale, this portrait is an intimate depiction of the most successful condottiere of the fifteenth century and shows the extent to which the patronage of art and culture could be fostered to cover up the most heinous of crimes.
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Fig. 28. Piero della Francesca,
Montefeltro Altarpiece
. Like contemporary merchant bankers, condottieri enthusiastically had themselves depicted as witnesses to or participants in scenes from religious history as a means of scrubbing away the bloody stains on their souls.
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Fig. 29. Piero della Francesca,
Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta Praying in Front of Saint Sigismund
. Far from illustrating his piety, this fresco was a conscious celebration of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta’s militaristic prowess and overweening ambition, as well as a pointed political dig at the pope’s expense.
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Fig. 30. Giulio Romano, Giovanni da Udine, and others (after Raphael),
The Council of the Gods
. Depicting a scene of drunken revelry taken from classical mythology, this shows that the greed, gluttony, and lust of the papal court often found their way into the decorative schemes of palaces belonging to Rome’s ecclesiastical elite.
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