Not since Edward Wood’s Giants and Dwarfs published in 1868 has the subject been the focus of a scholarly study in English. Treating the topic afresh, this volume offers new insights into the vogue for giants and dwarfs that flourished in late-medieval and early modern Europe. From chapters dealing with the real dwarfs and giants in the royal and princely courts, to the imaginary giants and dwarfs that figured in the crafting of nationalistic and ancestral traditions, to giants and dwarfs used as metaphorical expression, scholars discuss their role in art, literature, and ephemeral display. Some essays examine giants and dwarfs as monsters and marvels and collectibles, while others show artists and writers emphasizing contrasts in scale to inspire awe or for comic effect. As these investigations reveal, not all court dwarfs functioned as jesters, and giant figures might equally be used to represent heroes, anti-heroes, and even a saint.
- Cover
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Giants and Dwarfs as Real, Imagined, and Metaphorical Entities
- Part I Northern Climes
- 1. Out of Scale: Naming and Identity of Late Medieval Giants
- 2. St. Christopher the Giant: Imagining the Sublime in Fifteenth-Century South Tyrol
- 3. Giants as Primordial Ancestors in Sixteenth-Century Art and Poetry
- 4. A Champion large of portratour: Robert the Bruce as “Giant” in Anti-Tudor Propaganda
- 5. Giants and Dwarfs in the Tyrolean Courts: Documents, Portraits, and the Kunst- und Wunderkammer at Schloss Ambras
- 6. A Model Christian and “Child of God”: A German Court Dwarf and His Funeral Sermon
- Part II Spain and Italy
- 7. Ordinary Marvels: The Case of Dwarf Attendants in Habsburg Spain
- 8. A Ducal Dwarf, Military Prowess, and a Portrait in the Farnese Dynastic Collection
- 9. Per mano della Maria Nana: A Female Dwarf in the Retinue of Eleonora di Toledo
- 10. Dwarfs and Giants in Early Modern Caricature
- 11. “Biancone”: Giants, Dwarfs, and the Rise of a Popular Nickname
- Index
- List of Illustrations
- Figure I.1 Anthony van Dyck, Queen Henrietta Maria with Sir Jeffrey Hudson, 1633. Oil on canvas, 219.1 × 134.8 cm (86 1/4 × 53 1/16 in.). Samuel H. Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure I.2 Anthonis Mor, Cardinal Granvelle’s Dwarf with Dog, 1550–60. Oil on wood, 126 × 92 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY.
- Figure I.3 Giulio Romano, detail of dwarf in Vision of the Cross, ca. 1520. Fresco, Sala di Costantino, Palazzo Vaticano, Rome. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.
- Figure I.4 Athanasius Kircher, Giants from Mundus Subterraneus, ca. 1664. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure I.5 Giambologna (Giovanni da Bologna), Appennino, ca. 1579. Medici gardens at Pratolino, Italy. Photo: Robin O’Bryan.
- Figure I.6 Giovanni Battista de’ Cavalieri, Portrait of Re Picino, 1585. Engraving, 225 × 154 mm. British Museum, London. Photo: The Trustees of the British Museum.
- Figure I.7 Jacob Gole, Kleene Jannetie, a Dwarf Aged 46 and Lange Jacob, a Giant Aged 40, late seventeenth century. Mezzotint, 24.9 × 18.6 cm. Wellcome Collection, London. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure I.8 Giorgio Ghisi, after Michelangelo, Jeremiah, Boaz, and Aminadab, 1570–75. Engraving, 22 1/4 × 17 in. (56.5 × 43.2 cm). The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1984, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Artwork in the publ
- Figure I.9 Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Caricature of a Court Dwarf, ca. 1660s. Pen and brown ink, 5 1/8 × 4 1/8 in. (12.9 × 10.4 cm). Purchase, Alain and Marie-Christine van den Broek d’Obrenan Gift, 2008. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Artwork in the pu
- Figure I.10 Andrea Mantegna, detail with dwarf from Court Scene, 1465–74. Fresco, Camera Picta (Camera degli Sposi), Palazzo Ducale, Mantua. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.
- Figure I.11 Cesare Ripa, “Vitio” (Vice), illustration in Iconologia, 1603. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure I.12 Andriolo de Santi, Pietro Nano da Marano with Virgin and Saints Francis and Lawrence, ca. 1344. Tympanum, San Lorenzo, Vicenza. Photo: Robin O’Bryan.
- Figure 1.1 Schloss Runkelstein, Summer House Balcony, ca. 1395–1413. Bolzano, Italy. Photo: Stiftung Bozner Schlösser/Fondazione Castelli di Bolzano.
- Figure 1.2 The Three Greatest Warrior-Giants, ca. 1395–1413. Fresco, Summer House balcony, Schloss Runkelstein, Bolzano, Italy. Photo: Stiftung Bozner Schlösser/Fondazione Castelli di Bolzano.
- Figure 1.3 The Three Most Powerful Giantesses, ca. 1395–1413. Fresco, Summer House balcony, Schloss Runkelstein, Bolzano, Italy. Photo: Stiftung Bozner Schlösser/Fondazione Castelli di Bolzano.
- Figure 1.4 The Nine Worthies, ca. 1395–1413. Fresco, Summer House balcony, Schloss Runkelstein, Bolzano, Italy. Photo: Stiftung Bozner Schlösser/Fondazione Castelli di Bolzano.
- Figure 1.5 The Three Greatest Pairs of Courtly Lovers, ca. 1395–1413. Fresco, Summer House balcony, Schloss Runkelstein, Bolzano, Italy. Photo: Stiftung Bozner Schlösser/Fondazione Castelli di Bolzano.
- Figure 1.6 The Three Greatest Arthurian Warriors (portion), the Three Greatest Giants, the Three Greatest Giantesses, and the Three Best Dwarfs (on back wall), ca. 1395–1413 (view from balcony platform). Fresco, Summer House, Schloss Runkelstein, Bolzano,
- Figure 1.7 The Three Greatest Arthurian Warriors (left) and The Three Greatest Giants (right), ca. 1395–1413 (view taken from the courtyard). Fresco, Summer House balcony, Schloss Runkelstein, Bolzano, Italy. Photo: George Tatge, for Alinari Archives, Flo
- Figure 1.8 View of Schloss Runkelstein Summer House balcony frescoes with Dolomites Mountains in the background, ca. 1395–1413. Bolzano, Italy. Photo: Assaf Pinkus.
- Figure 1.9 The Primordial Giantess, ca. 1215. Fresco, apse of St. Jakob in Kastelaz, Tramin, Italy. Photo: Assaf Pinkus.
- Figure 1.10 Detail of The Three Giantesses, ca. 1395–1413 (view from the balcony platform). Fresco, Summer House, Schloss Runkelstein, Bolzano, Italy. Photo: Assaf Pinkus.
- Figure 2.1 St. Christopher, fifteenth century. Fresco, St. Nicholas Church, Merano, Italy. Photo: Michal Ozeri.
- Figure 2.2 St. Christopher with a Siren, fifteenth century. Fresco, St. Nicholas Church, Merano, Italy. Photo: Assaf Pinkus.
- Figure 2.3 St. Christopher Surrounded by a City, ca. 1162. Swabian Codex of Zwiefalten Abbey. Cod.Hist. fol. 415, fol. 50r. Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart. Photo: Württembergische Landesbibliothek.
- Figure 2.4 St. Christopher, late twelfth, early thirteenth century. Fresco, St. John Church, Taufers, Italy. Photo: Michal Ozeri.
- Figure 2.5 St. Martin Church viewed against mountain backdrop, Zillis, Switzerland. Photo: Michal Ozeri.
- Figure 2.6 St. Christopher with a Mermaid and Other Mirabilia, sixteenth century. Fresco, St. Thomas Church, Weitental, Italy. Photo: Johanna Bampi.
- Figure 2.7 Mermaid, detail of St. Christopher with a Siren, fifteenth century. Fresco, St. Nicholas Church, Merano, Italy. Photo: Assaf Pinkus.
- Figure 2.8 Mermaid, detail of St. Christopher with a Mermaid and Other Mirabilia, sixteenth century. Fresco, St. Thomas Church, Weitental, Italy. Photo: Johanna Bampi.
- Figure 3.1 Wenceslaus Hollar, Landscape, seventeenth century. Etching, 14.6 × 20.2 cm. Gift of George W. Davison, Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure 3.2 James Asperne, Gog and Magog: Guildhall Giants, 1810. Etching and engraving, 10.5 × 16.8 cm. British Museum, London. Photo: The Trustees of the British Museum.
- Figure 3.3 Gaspard Bouttats, The Yearly Ommegang Pageant in Antwerp, 1685. Engraving. Wellcome Collection, London. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure 3.4 Anonymous, Interior View of Steen Castle in Antwerp, 1872. Etching, 16.8 × 21.9 cm. British Museum, London. Photo: The Trustees of the British Museum.
- Figure 3.5 Hendrik Goltzius, The Great Hercules, 1589. Engraving, 55.5 × 40.4 cm. Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1946, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure 3.6 After Hendrik Goltzius, The Age of Iron from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book 1, 1589. Engraving, 17.5 × 24 cm. Gift of the Estate of Leo Steinberg, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure 4.1 George Jamesone, Robert the Bruce, 1633. Oil on canvas, 68 × 68.5 cm. Fleming Collection, London. Photo: © The Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation.
- Figure 4.2 Jacob Jacobsz de Wet, Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland (1274–1329), 1684–86. Oil on canvas, 214.0 × 137.0 cm. Great Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh. Photo © The Royal Collection Trust.
- Figure 5.1 Statue of the giant Haymon, ca. 1460–70. Wood, Wilten Collegiate Church, Innsbruck. Photo: Hansjörg Rabanser.
- Figure 5.2 Gabriel Bodenehr the Elder, View of Schloss Ambras. Copper engraving from Curioses Staats und Kriegs Theatrum (Augsburg, after 1717/20). Photo: Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck.
- Figure 5.3 Postcard with the statue of the giant Niklas Haidl in his place of residence, Burgriesenhaus, Innsbruck. Photography from 1913 by Würthle & Sohn, Salzburg. Photo:
Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck.
- Figure 5.4 Skeleton of the giant Niklas Haidl as part of an exhibition at the Fortezza Fortress (South Tyrol), 2009. Photo: Hansjörg Rabanser.
- Figure 5.5 Wooden mannequin of Bartolomeo Bona in armor. Schloss Ambras, Innsbruck. Photo: Hansjörg Rabanser.
- Figure 5.6 Anonymous, The Giant Hans Kraus, 1601. Oil on canvas, 290 × 175 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, picture gallery inv. 8300 © KHM-Museumsverband.
- Figure 5.7 Anonymous, Imagined portrait of the court dwarf Thome[r]le on the facade of a house, Stiftsgasse 2, Innsbruck. Photo: Hansjörg Rabanser.
- Figure 5.8 Anonymous, Portrait of the Dwarf Peter Oberanter, ca. 1576. Oil on panel, 11.5 × 9.5 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, picture gallery inv. 5423 © KHM-Museumsverband.
- Figure 6.1 Title page from the funeral sermon dedicated to the court dwarf Justus Bertram, Martin Füssel, Klugheit der Kinder Gottes, Berlin, 1619. Artwork in public domain.
- Figure 6.2 Commemorative plaque with inserted portrait for the court dwarf Berinte Berends, 1693. Church of St. Cosmas und Damian, Bockhorn, northern Germany. Photo: groenling@flickr.com with permission.
- Figure 6.3 Detail from a commemorative plaque with inserted portrait for the court dwarf Berinte Berends, 1693. Church of St. Cosmas und Damian, Bockhorn, northern Germany, Photo: groenling@flickr.com with permission.
- Figure 6.4 Elias Räntz, Grave marker for the court dwarf Georg Wilhelm Laubenberg, 1710, Bayreuth (now New Palace), Germany. Photo: Rabenstein, Christoph, and Ronald Werner. “Georg Wilhelm Laubenberg. Das Brandenburger Kammerzwerglein.” In St. Georgen. Bi
- Figure 7.1 Bartolomé González, Archduchess Margarete of Austria, Queen of Spain, with a Female Court Dwarf, Carrying a Monkey, ca. 1601. Oil on canvas, 192 × 120 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna © KHM-Museumsverband.
- Figure 7.2 Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, Don Baltasar Carlos and an Attendant, 1632. Oil on canvas, 128.0 × 101.9 cm. Henry Lillie Pierce Fund, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Photo: © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
- Figure 7.3 Christoph Amberger, Emperor Charles V (1500–1558), ca. 1530–40. Oil on panel, 67.2 × 50.7 cm. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie, Germany. Photo: © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie/Jörg P. Anders; Public Domain Mark 1.0.
- Figure 7.4 Antonio Rodríguez Beltrán, María Luisa de Toledo with Her Indigenous Companion, ca. 1670. Oil on canvas, 205.7 × 126.5 cm. (P003608) Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Photo: © Photographic Archive Museo Nacional del Prado.
- Figure 8.1 Johann Gersmueter, Portrait of the Dwarf Giangiovetta (alleged), 1606. Oil on canvas, 159 × 115 cm. Galleria Nazionale di Parma. Photo: Complessa Monumentale della Pilotta – Galleria Nazionale di Parma.
- Figure 8.2 Agostino Carracci, Arrigo Peloso, Pietro Matto, and Amon Nano, ca. 1598–1600. Oil on canvas, 101 × 133 cm. Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples. Photo: Scala/Ministero per i Beni e le Attività culturali/Art Resource, NY.
- Figure 8.3 Giovan Battista Trotti (il Malosso), detail of dwarf from The Sacrifice of Alcesti, 1604. Fresco, Sala di Malosso, Palazzo del Giardino, Parma. Photo: By permission of the Municipality of Parma – S.O. Museum System.
- Figure 8.4 Ulisse Aldrovandi, “Nanus Illustrissimi D. Ducis Caroli de Creqy,” from Monstrorum historia, 1642. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure 8.5 Francesco Terzio (attributed), Dwarf Thome[r]le in Armor, after 1568. Oil on canvas. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, picture gallery, inv. no. 3839 © KHM-Museumsverband.
- Figure 8.6 Juan van der Hamen y León, Portrait of a Dwarf, ca. 1626. Oil on canvas, 122.5 × 87 cm. Museo del Prado, Madrid. Photo: © Museo Nacional del Prado/Art Resource, NY.
- Figure 9.1 Giorgio Vasari, The Marriage of Catherine de’ Medici to Henri, Duke of Orléans, ca. 1556–62. Fresco, Sala di Clemente VII, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. Photo: Raffaello Bencini/Bridgeman Images.
- Figure 9.2 Female dwarf (possibly Maria), detail from Giorgio Vasari, The Marriage of Catherine de’ Medici to Henri, Duke of Orléans, ca. 1556–62. Fresco, Sala di Clemente VII, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. Photo: Raffaello Bencini/Bridgeman Images.
- Figure 9.3 Michelangelo Buonarroti, Zenobia, ca. 1520–25. Black chalk on paper, 14.05 × 9.92 in. (35.7 × 25.2 cm), 598Er, Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence. Photo: Scala, Florence.
- Figure 9.4 Michelangelo Buonarroti, Ideal Head of a Woman, ca. 1525–28. Black chalk on paper, 11.02 × 8.97 in. (28 × 22.8 cm), 1895, 0915.493r, British Museum, London. Photo: The Trustees of the British Museum.
- Figure 10.1 Agostino Carracci, Studies and Sketches for Figures. Pen and ink, 27.2 × 19.8 cm (10 11/16 × 7 3/4 in). Bequest of Harry G. Sperling, 1971, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure 10.2 Circle of Agostino Carracci, Singing Dwarf with His Wife. Pen and ink, 24.4 × 17.6 cm (9 5/8 × 6 15/16 in). National Museum, Stockholm. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure 10.3 Stefano della Bella, Colossal Statue of the Appennino, from Views of Villa di Pratolino. Etching, 10 3/16 × 15 1/8 in (25.8 × 38.4 cm). Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure 10.4 Stefano della Bella, Dwarfs Playing a Ball Game. Pencil, pen and ink, and wash, 17.1 × 26.7 cm (16 3/4 × 10 1/2 in). Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure 10.5 Baccio del Bianco, Carnival Figures. Red chalk, 14 × 28.7 cm (5 9/16 × 11 5/16 in). The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago. Artwork in the public domain.
- Figure 10.6 Jusepe de Ribera, Man Wearing a Large Cloak and a Small Naked Man on His Head, ca. 1637–40. Pen and ink, brush, and brown wash, 8 3/8 × 3 15/16 in. (21.2 × 10.0 cm). Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1981, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Artwo
- Figure 10.7 Pier Francesco Mola, The Connoisseurs. Pen and brown ink, 9 3/8 × 7 5/16 in (23.9 × 18.5 cm). Gift of János Scholz, 1985.90. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York.
- Figure 11.1 Bartolomeo Ammannati, Neptune Fountain, 1560–74. Piazza della Signoria, Florence. Photo: Felicia Else.
- Figure 11.2 Piazza della Signoria and Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence, showing Ammannati’s Neptune Fountain, Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes (replica), Michelangelo’s David (replica), Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus, Cellini’s Perseus and Medusa, and Giambol
- Figure 11.3 View in Piazza della Signoria showing Ammannati’s Neptune Fountain, Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes (replica), Michelangelo’s David (replica) and Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus. Photo: Felicia Else.
- Figure 11.4 Valerio Cioli, Morgante on Tortoise (replica of marble original), ca. 1564. Boboli Gardens, Florence. Photo: Felicia Else.
- Figure 11.5 View of Piazza della Signoria showing Ammannati’s Neptune Fountain, Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes (replica), Michelangelo’s David (replica), Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus, and Cellini’s Perseus and Medusa. Photo: Felicia Else.
- Figure 11.6 View from behind Cellini’s Perseus and Medusa in the Loggia dei Lanzi showing Michelangelo’s David (replica) and Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus. Photo: Felicia Else.
- Figure 11.7 Anonymous, Portrait of Giant Anton Franck and Dwarf Thome[r]le, late sixteenth century. Oil on canvas, 265 × 160 cm (104.3 × 63 in.). Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, picture gallery, inv. 8299 © KHM-Museumsverband.
- Figure 11.8 Giambologna, Morgante on a Sea Monster (replica of original, ca. 1583). Bronze, rooftop deck of Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence. Photo: Felicia Else.
- Figure 11.9 Francesco Zuccarrelli after Lorenzo Lippi, Frontispiece for Il Malmantile Racquistato, 1731. Etching. Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Artwork in public domain.
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