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Bernardino Poccetti and the Art of Religious Painting at the End of the Florentine Renaissance

Bernardino Poccetti and the Art of Religious Painting at the End of the Florentine Renaissance

By almost any measure Bernardino Barbatelli, called Poccetti, was a successful and sought after painter in late sixteenth-century Florence, but his works have remained largely overlooked. This study situates representative examples of his religious painting within their respective contexts to demonstrate how Poccetti and his patrons negotiated the increasingly fraught terrain of sacred painting in the period of religious reform. These case studies demonstrate how patrons ranging from the Dominicans to the Carthusians to prominent Florentine patricians relied on Poccetti’s skill in creating compelling narratives that reflected current concerns within the Catholic world. In the process, Poccetti invoked an august Florentine tradition of fresco painting, shaping it to better address the demands placed on religious imagery at the end of the Renaissance.
  • Cover
  • Table of Contents
  • List of Abbreviations
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction: ‘Il primo huomo da dipingere in fresco, che sia in questi paesi’
    • Bernardino Poccetti and the Historiography of Florentine Painting during the Late Renaissance
  • 1. ‘Grandemente inclinato all’Arte del Disegno’
    • Filippo Baldinucci’s Biography of Bernardino Poccetti
  • 2. ‘Le prime cose lodevoli molto’
    • Bernardino Poccetti’s Early Work and the Frescoes from the Life of Saint Dominic in the Chiostro Grande, Santa Maria Novella
  • 3. ‘Locum ecclesiae designavit, quae Ioannis et uxoris pecunia extructa est’
    • Bernardino Poccetti and the Decoration of the Canigiani Chapel in Santa Felicita
  • 4. ‘Miracula et alia id genus’
    • Bernardino Poccetti’s Frescoes in the Church of San Lorenzo at the Certosa del Galluzzo
  • Color Plates
  • 5. ‘L’inventore di dipingere tutte le muraglie della nostra chiesa’
    • Bernardino Poccetti and the Sixteenth-Century Decoration of Santa Maria del Carmine
  • Conclusion
  • Bibliography
  • Index
  • List of Illustrations
    • Color Plates
      • Plate 1: Andrea del Sarto, Madonna del Sacco, 1525, fresco. Chiostro dei Morti, Santissima Annunziata, Florence. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Plate 2: Bernardino Poccetti, Birth of Saint Dominic, c. 1584, fresco. Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Chiostro Grande. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
      • Plate 3: Bernardino Poccetti, Saint Dominic’s Text Survives a Trial by Fire, c. 1584, fresco. Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Chiostro Grande. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
      • Plate 4: View of vault with Holy Trinity by Tommaso Gherardini (after 1767) and saints in the pendentives by Bernardino Poccetti (1590), fresco. Florence, Santa Felicita, Canigiani Chapel. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Plate 5: Bernardino Poccetti, The Miraculous Snowfall on the Esquiline Hill and the Foundation of Santa Maria Maggiore, 1590, fresco. Florence, Santa Felicita, Canigiani Chapel. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Plate 6: Bernardino Poccetti, Bruno Refuses the Bishopric of Reggio Calabria, 1591–1593, fresco. Galluzzo, Certosa del Galluzzo, Church of San Lorenzo. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Plate 7: Bernardino Poccetti, Funeral of Saint Bruno, 1591–1593, fresco. Galluzzo, Certosa del Galluzzo, Church of San Lorenzo. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Plate 8: Bernardino Poccetti, Saints, Beati, and Carthusian Priors General, 1591–1593, fresco. Galluzzo, Certosa del Galluzzo, Church of San Lorenzo. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Plate 9: Bernardino Poccetti, Saint Bartholomew, 1604, fresco. Florence, San Bartolomeo a Monte Oliveto. Source: author
      • Plate 10: Bernardino Poccetti, Saint Miniatus, 1604, fresco. Florence, San Bartolomeo a Monte Oliveto. Source: author
      • Plate 11: Giovanni Antonio Dosio, Gaddi Chapel, 1575–1577. View of colored-marble revetment and tomb. Florence, Santa Maria Novella. Source: author
      • Plate 12: Giovanni Antonio Dosio, Niccolini Chapel, revetments complete by 1588. View of colored-marble revetment and tomb. Florence, Santa Croce. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0 / detail from original)
      • Plate 13: Bernardino Poccetti, Saint Dominic Distributes the Proceeds from the Sale of his Books, c. 1584, fresco. Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Chiostro Grande. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
      • Plate 14: Bernardino Poccetti, study for Saint Dominic Distributes the Proceeds from the Sale of his Books (after Andrea del Sarto), black chalk with white heightening. Florence, GDSU (inv. no. 8576 F). Source: Gallerie degli Uffizi, Gabinetto Fotografico
      • Plate 15: Bernardino Poccetti, Saint Dominic Converts the Heretical Noblewomen, c. 1584, fresco. Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Chiostro Grande. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
      • Plate 16: Bernardino Poccetti, study for The Martyrdom of Saint James, 1590s, black chalk. Florence, GDSU (inv. no. 8791 F). Source: Gallerie degli Uffizi, Gabinetto Fotografico
    • Black-and-white figures
      • Fig. 1.1: Filippo Baldinucci, ‘Bernardo Barbatelli detto Bernardino Poccetti pittore fiorentino’ in Notizie de’ professori del disegno (1688). Source: Getty Research Institute. Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content program
      • Fig. 1.2: Pier Dandini, Filippo Baldinucci and the Accademie della Crusca and del Disegno, late seventeenth–early eighteenth century. Florence, Accademia della Crusca. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 2.1: Bernardo Buontalenti, Palazzo di Bianca Cappello, 1570s. Florence, Via Maggio. Source: author
      • Fig. 2.2: Bernardino Poccetti, detail of sgraffito facade, Palazzo di Bianca Cappello, 1573–1575. Florence, Via Maggio. Source: author
      • Fig. 2.3: Federico Zuccaro, Taddeo Copying Raphael’s Frescoes in the Loggia of the Villa Farnesina, Where He is Also Represented Asleep, c. 1595, pen and brown ink, brush with brown wash, over black chalk and touches of red chalk (42.4x17.5cm). Los Angele
      • Fig. 2.4: Bernardino Poccetti, Mission of the Apostles, c. 1584, fresco. Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Chiostro Grande. Source: author
      • Fig. 2.5: Domenico Ghirlandaio, Birth of John the Baptist, 1485–1490, fresco. Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Tornabuoni Chapel. Source: Scala / Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali / Art Resource, NY
      • Fig. 2.6: Andrea del Sarto, Birth of the Virgin, 1514, fresco. Florence, Santissima Annunziata, Chiostrino de’ Voti. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 2.7: Andrea del Sarto, The Visitation, 1524, fresco. Florence, Chiostro dello Scalzo. Source: Matt Adams, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
      • Fig. 2.8: Andrea del Sarto, Young Man Taking a Step, with a Basket and Balancing a Sack on his Head. Verso: An Additional Study of the Same Figure, before 1524, black and red chalk. New York, The Morgan Library & Museum. Source: The Morgan Library & Museu
      • Fig. 2.9: Bernardino Poccetti, preparatory design for Saint Dominic Converts the Heretical Noblewomen, c. 1584, pen and brush in brown ink over black chalk. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum (inv. no. RP-T-1957-231). Source: Rijksmuseum (CC0 1.0)
      • Fig. 2.10: Bernardino Poccetti, preparatory design for Saint Dominic Converts the Heretical Noblewomen, c. 1584, black chalk and white heightening on brown paper. Florence, GDSU (inv. no. 1788 E). Source: Gallerie degli Uffizi, Gabinetto Fotografico
      • Fig. 2.11: Bernardino Poccetti, preparatory design for Saint Dominic Converts the Heretical Noblewomen, c. 1584, black chalk and white heightening. Florence, GDSU (inv. no. 1789 E). Source: Gallerie degli Uffizi, Gabinetto Fotografico
      • Fig. 2.12: Sante Pacini, Saint Dominic Converts the Heretical Women (after Bernardino Poccetti), before 1793, black chalk. Paris, Louvre (inv. no. 1485 recto). Source: © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY
      • Fig. 2.13: Santa Maria Novella, view of west transept, basilica begun 1279. Florence. Source: author
      • Fig. 2.14: Bernardino Poccetti, Saint Dominic Preaches a Crusade, c. 1584, fresco. Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Chiostro Grande. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
      • Fig. 2.15: Andrea Bonaiuti, Saint Peter Martyr Preaching, 1365–1366, fresco. Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Guidalotti Chapel. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
      • Fig. 2.16: Bernardino Poccetti, study for Saint Dominic Preaches a Crusade, c. 1584, black chalk and white heightening on blue paper. Florence, GDSU (inv. no. 8615 F). Source: Gallerie degli Uffizi, Gabinetto Fotografico
      • Fig. 2.17: Bernardino Poccetti, study for Saint Dominic Preaches a Crusade, c. 1584, black chalk and white heightening on blue paper. Florence, GDSU (inv. no. 8630 F). Source: Gallerie degli Uffizi, Gabinetto Fotografico
      • Fig. 3.1: Santa Felicita, Florence. View of retrofacade with Capponi Chapel on the left and Canigiani Chapel on the right. Source: author
      • Fig. 3.2: Andrea del Minga, Assumption of the Virgin, 1591, panel. Florence, Santa Felicita, Canigiani Chapel. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 3.3: Bernardino Poccetti, Saint John the Evangelist, 1590, fresco. Florence, Santa Felicita, Canigiani Chapel. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 3.4: Bernardino Poccetti, Saint John the Baptist, 1590, fresco. Florence, Santa Felicita, Canigiani Chapel. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 3.5: Bernardino Poccetti, San Giovanni Gualberto, 1590, fresco. Florence, Santa Felicita, Canigiani Chapel. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 3.6: Bernardino Poccetti, study for San Giovanni Gualberto, 1590, red chalk. Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Kupferstichkabinett (inv. no. KdZ 15466). Source: © bpk Bildagentur / Dietmar Katz
      • Fig. 3.7: Bernardino Poccetti, Pope John I (?), 1590, fresco. Florence, Santa Felicita, Canigiani Chapel. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 3.8: Bernardino Poccetti, study for Pope John I (?), 1590, red chalk. Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Kupferstichkabinett (inv. no. KdZ 15465). Source: © bpk Bildagentur / Dietmar Katz
      • Fig. 3.9: Bernardino Poccetti, preparatory design for The Miraculous Snowfall on the Esquiline Hill and the Foundation of Santa Maria Maggiore, 1590, red and black pencil, ink, and bistre on ivory paper, 328 x 238mm. Rome, Istituto Centrale per la Grafica
      • Fig. 3.10: Bernardino Poccetti, study for The Miraculous Snowfall on the Esquiline Hill and the Foundation of Santa Maria Maggiore, c. 1590, black chalk. Cleveland Museum of Art. Source: Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access Initiative (CC0 1.0)
      • Fig. 3.11: Bernardino Poccetti, The Miraculous Snowfall on the Esquiline Hill and the Foundation of Santa Maria Maggiore (detail), 1590, fresco. Florence, Santa Felicita, Canigiani Chapel. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 3.12: Niccolò di Piero Tedesco (?) from a design by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini (?), The Miraculous Snowfall on the Esquiline Hill and the Foundation of Santa Maria Maggiore, c. 1386–1400, stained glass. Florence, Orsanmichele. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia
      • Fig. 4.1: Certosa del Galluzzo, begun 1341. Florence (Galluzzo). Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 4.2: Certosa del Galluzzo, Church of San Lorenzo, view of altar bay with frescoes, tabernacle, and revetments, late sixteenth century. Florence (Galluzzo). Source: Mongolo1984, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0 / detail from original)
      • Fig. 4.3: Urs Graf the elder, Origo ordinis cartusiensis, 1510. Source: © British Library Board / Robana / Art Resource, NY
      • Fig. 4.4: The Funeral of the Theologian, from Brunonis Carthusianorum Patriarchae sanctissimi, fol. 499v, 1524, woodcut. Source: Biblioteca de Galiciana, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (http://biblioteca.galiciana.gal/en/ consulta/registro.do?id=8721, publ
      • Fig. 4.5: Bruno and his Companions Travel to Grenoble, from Brunonis Carthusianorum Patriarchae sanctissimi, fol. 500r, 1524, woodcut. Source: Biblioteca de Galiciana, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (http://biblioteca.galiciana.gal/en/ consulta/registro.do
      • Fig. 4.6: Bishop Hugh of Grenoble Receives Bruno and his Companions and The Dream of Bishop Hugh of Grenoble, from Brunonis Carthusianorum Patriarchae sanctissimi, fol. 502v, 1524, woodcut. Source: Biblioteca de Galiciana, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (h
      • Fig. 4.7: Bishop Hugh of Grenoble Leads Bruno and his Companions into the Mountains, from Brunonis Carthusianorum Patriarchae sanctissimi, fol. 504r, 1524, woodcut. Source: Biblioteca de Galiciana, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (http://biblioteca.galician
      • Fig. 4.8: Bruno Receives a Messenger from Pope Urban II and The Construction of the Chartreuse, from Brunonis Carthusianorum Patriarchae sanctissimi, fol. 505r, 1524, woodcut. Source: Biblioteca de Galiciana, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (http://bibliote
      • Fig. 4.9: The Death of Bruno and Roger I of Sicily Encounters Bruno in the Wilderness, from Brunonis Carthusianorum Patriarchae sanctissimi, fol. 506v, 1524, woodcut. Source: Biblioteca de Galiciana, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (http://biblioteca.galici
      • Fig. 4.10: Bernardino Poccetti, The Funeral of the Theologian, 1591–1593, fresco. Galluzzo, Certosa del Galluzzo, Church of San Lorenzo. Source: Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione (CC BY-SA 4.0 / detail from original)
      • Fig. 4.11: Bernardino Poccetti, Hugh of Grenoble Receives Bruno and his Companions, 1591–1593, fresco. Galluzzo, Certosa del Galluzzo, Church of San Lorenzo. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 4.12: Bernardino Poccetti, Bruno Appears to Roger I of Sicily at the Siege of Capua, 1591–1593, fresco. Galluzzo, Certosa del Galluzzo, Church of San Lorenzo. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 4.13: Bernardino Poccetti, preparatory design for Bruno Appears to Roger I of Sicily at the Siege of Capua, 1591–1593, pencil, ink, and wash. Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Kupferstichkabinett (inv. no. KdZ 17996). Source: © bpk Bildagentur / Dietmar Kat
      • Fig. 4.14: Bernardino Poccetti, Saint Hugh of Lincoln, 1591–1593, fresco. Galluzzo, Certosa del Galluzzo, Church of San Lorenzo. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 4.15: Bernardino Poccetti, Saint Hugh of Lincoln (detail of Guigo I), 1591–1593, fresco. Galluzzo, Certosa del Galluzzo, Church of San Lorenzo. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0 / detail from original)
      • Fig. 4.16: Bernardino Poccetti, Two Studies of Carthusians (recto), 1591–1592, black chalk. Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago. Source: Art Institute of Chicago (CC0 1.0 / public domain)
      • Fig. 4.17: Bernardino Poccetti, Saint Hugh of Châteauneuf, Bishop of Grenoble, 1591–1593, fresco. Galluzzo, Certosa del Galluzzo, Church of San Lorenzo. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0 / detail from original)
      • Fig. 4.18: Bernardino Poccetti, Anthelm, Bishop of Belley, 1591–1593, fresco. Galluzzo, Certosa del Galluzzo, Church of San Lorenzo. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 4.19: Bernardino Poccetti, Cardinal Niccolò Albergati, 1591–1593, fresco. Galluzzo, Certosa del Galluzzo, Church of San Lorenzo. Source: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
      • Fig. 5.1: Decorative program in the nave of Santa Maria del Carmine at the time of Poccetti’s death (north at top). Diagram by Matthew Gaynor (after Procacci). Source: author
      • Fig. 5.2: View of west wall of nave of the Church of the Ognissanti showing altars and tabernacles. Source: author
      • Fig. 5.3: View of retrofacade of San Bartolomeo a Monte Oliveto with frescoes by Bernardino Poccetti. Source: author
      • Fig. 5.4: Bernardino Poccetti, study for Saint Peter, 1604, black and red chalk. Florence, GDSU (inv. no. 8313 F). Source: Gallerie degli Uffizi, Gabinetto Fotografico
      • Fig. 5.5: Bernardino Poccetti, study for Saint Philip, after 1592, black and red chalk. Florence, GDSU (inv. no. 862 F). Source: Gallerie degli Uffizi, Gabinetto Fotografico
      • Fig. 5.6: Bernardino Poccetti, Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, 1604, fresco. Florence, San Bartolomeo a Monte Oliveto. Source: author
      • Fig. 5.7: Bernardino Poccetti, Martyrdom of Saint Miniatus, 1604, fresco. Florence, San Bartolomeo a Monte Oliveto. Source: author
      • Fig. 5.8: Bernardino Poccetti, preparatory design for The Martyrdom of Saint Andrew, 1590s, black chalk, brown ink, and brown ink wash. Weimar, Klassik Stiftung, Graphische Sammlungen (inv. no. KK 8611). Source: Klassik Stiftung Weimar
      • Fig. 5.9: Giovanni Caccini, Reliquary Chapel of San Giovanni Gualberto, 1594. Frescoes by Domenico Cresti. Florence, Santa Trìnita. Source: author

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