Physical description
A tangle of soldiers and horses on a river's bank with a bridge on the left and an encampment with golden pointed tents on the right; in the background a view of Rome.
Place of Origin
Florence, Italy (painted)
Date
ca. 1450 (painted)
Artist/maker
Pesellino, Francesco, born 1422 - died 1457 (Follower of, production)
Materials and Techniques
tempera on sweet chestnut panel
Dimensions
Height: 43.5 cm estimate, Width: 134.6 cm estimate, Height: 38 cm painted surface, Width: 128.3 cm painted surface
Object history note
Purchased, 1863
Historical significance: This painting constituted the front panel of a Florentine cassone (wedding chest), now dismantled, which represents the story of the Roman hero Horatius Cocles who saved Rome from capture by the Etruscan army led by Lars Porsena. This subject from the Roman Republican history is mentioned by Livy (2:10), Valerius Maximus, (3:2) and Virgil (Aeneid, 8:650).
Horatius Cocles is here shown on the left defending the bridge across the Tiber, sword in hand, warding off the attackers while the Romans demolished the bridge behind him. On the right hand-side, Lars Porsena, the Etruscan commander, wearing a beard and a turban, sits before his tent while an emissary informed him about the development of the battle. In the background is depicted the city of Rome with, from far left, the Pantheon, the Castle S. Angelo and the Pyramid of Caius Cestius. At the last moment, when the bridge was finally destroyed, Horatius plunged into the river (bottom left) and crossed the river to safety.
Originally attributed by Schiaparelli (1908) to a follower of Pesellino, and by Schubring (1915) to the 'Master of the Tournament of S. Croce' (to whom he also attributed 5804-1859), this cassone panel was catalogued by C.M. Kauffmann as 'Florentine school, third quarter of the 15th century'. Another version, of similar composition but clearly executed by a different hand, is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (SK-A-3302) and another, known as ‘Morelli cassone’, attributed to Biagio d’Antonio and Jacopo del Sellaio, and dated 1472, is in the Courtauld Gallery, London (F.1947.LF.4). A third version was formerly in the collection of Mr Michael de Laszlo, New York.
The colour scheme of this cassone, dominated by a greenish blue, is particularly intriguing and differs notably from other surviving pieces. The figures are quite clumsy and not very well-proportioned which denotes a workshop's product. However the sense of movement provided by the weapons pointed in different directions and the tangle of horses is reminiscent of the art of Paolo Uccello (1397-1475) and Francesco Pesellino (ca. 1422-1457) in such examples as David and Goliath, ca. 1450, The National Gallery, London (NG6579) and the famous three panels for the 'Battle of San Romano' (National Gallery, London; Louvre, Paris; Uffizi, Florence).
Battle scenes for wedding chests were not rare in the 15th century and illustrated mostly heroic virtues such as the dedication of a hero for the protection of his city, an act of bravery that was particularly praised and sought after by the humanists of the time. Particularly interesting are the outfit of the Etruscans dressed in the fashion of Constantinople during the last year of the Byzantine Empire (fall of Constantinople: 1453). These costumes were meant to distinguish the Roman army from the Etruscans but also echo the fascination of the Florentines for these resplendent robes they had seen during and after the Council of Florence (1439) where Byzantine high-ranking dignities came to discuss the possible reunification of the Eastern and Western Catholic churches. For instance a cassone panel illustrating the 'Conquest of Trebizond', attributed to Apollonio di Giovanni (Metropolitan Museum, New York, No.14.39) shows identical tents and similarly dressed figures, not Florentines but Turks. These dresses added some festive note to the cassoni, which particularly suited such merry event as weddings.
Historical context note
The term cassone stands in Italian for chest and relates to large and ornate pieces of furniture made in Italy from the 14th to the end of the 16th centuries. They were generally made on the occasion of a relatively important wedding and contained the bride's trousseau. Writing in the mid-sixteenth century, Vasari describes cassoni thus:
'…citizens of those times used to have in their apartments great wooden chests in the form of a sarcophagus, with the covers shaped in various fashions…and besides the stories that were wrought on the front and on the ends, they used to have the arms, or rather, insignia, of their houses painted on the corners, and sometimes elsewhere. And the stories that were wrought on the front were for the most part fables taken from Ovid and from other poets, or rather stories related by the Greek and Latin historians, and likewise chases, jousts, tales of love, and other similar subjects…'.
(Giorgio Vasari, translated Gaston du C. de Vere, Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects, vol. 1, London 1996, p.267)
These lavishly decorated cassoni, often combined with pastiglia decoration, were generally commissioned in pairs. Florence, which specialised in the decoration of the front panel, was at that time the main centre of production, even though Siena and the Veneto also supplied cassoni. The painted decorations usually represented episodes from classical or biblical history or mythology appropriate for the newly wed.
The most flourishing cassone workshop in Florence was run by Marco del Buono Giamberti and Apollonio di Giovanni but major artists such as Domenico Veneziano and Botticelli may have decorated cassoni on occasion. Painted cassoni went out of fashion towards the end of the 15th century when carved oaken chests came into vogue.
Descriptive line
Cassone Panel painted with the scene of Horatius Cocles defending the Sublician Bridge, Follower of Pesellino, ca. 1450
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Kauffmann, C.M. Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800 London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, p. 107-08, cat. no. 122
The following is the full text of the entry:
Florentine School, third quarter 15th century
122
CASSONE PANEL: HORATIUS COCLES DEFENDING THE SUBLICIAN BRIDGE
Tempera on sweet chestnut
Whole panel: 17 1/8 x 53 (43.5 x 134.6);
painted surface: 15 x 50 ½ (38 x 128.3); thickness 1 ¼ (3.2)
7897-1863
Horatius is shown first defending the bridge and then jumping into the water, while Porsenna, the Etruscan commander, looks on from his tent on the right (Livy, 2.10; Valerius Maximus, 3.2; Virgil, Aeneid, 8.650). Rome, with the Pantheon, the (?) Capitol, Castel S. Angelo and the Pyramid of Caius Cestius, is shown on the left.
This panel was ascribed by Schiaparelli (1908) to a follower of Pesellino related to the workshop that produced the Continence of Scipio (5804-1859; no. 9), and by Schubring (1915) to the 'Master of the Tournament of S. Croce', to whom he also attributed 5804-1859 (no. 9). Schubring argued on stylistic grounds that these two panels were from the same workshop, but this conclusion no longer seems acceptable. The treatment of the faces, for example, is different in the two panels: the carefully modelled face of Porsenna on the right is quite unlike anything produced in the workshop of Apollonio di Giovanni, to which the Continence of Scipio has been firmly attributed. 7987-1863 must have originated in a different workshop.
The theme of Horatius was only rarely treated in the 15th century. It occurs occasionally in illustrated Valerius Maximus mss. (e.g. Bologna University Library, MS. 2463), but in a rather different and simpler form, and it is only on cassoni that it is depicted at all regularly at this early date. A version with only minor variations, from the same workshop and doubtless from the same model, is in the collection of Mr Michael de Laszlo, New York, grandson of the painter Philip de Laszlo. The latter included it in the background of a portrait of his wife which now also belongs to Mr de Laszlo. Another version with more considerable variations, is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Schubring, Apollo, v, 1927, p. 107, repr.). Similar compositions, slightly later in date, occur on the Morelli cassone from Lord Lee's collection (now in the Courtauld Institute Galleries, Catalogue of the Lee Collection, 1962, p. 29, no. 60; repr. Illustrated London News, 28 February 1948) and that in the Stadel Institute, Frankfurt (Schubring, 1915, no. 333, pl. lxix).
The architectural features are based on a bird's eye plan of Rome, probably dating from the early 13th century and apparently also used by Cimabue in the Upper Church at Assisi. Another copy of this plan must have been available in Apollonio's workshop, for the principal buildings of Rome set out in this cramped manner occur on several of its products (see Huelsen, below).
Condition. The surface is badly rubbed in many places. All the silver on the armour has disappeared, leaving a reddish brown surface. Many of the faces are damaged. Cleaned in 1961.
Prov. Bought by the Museum in 1863 for £12 10s.
Lit. A. Schiaparelli, La casa fiorentina, 1908, p. 285 and fig. 169; Schubring, Cassoni, 1915, p. 255, no. 143. Cf. Ch. Huelsen, 'Di alcune nuove vedute prospettiche di Roma' in Bollettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma, xxxix, 1911, pp. 3-22.
A. Schiaparelli, La casa fiorentina, 1908, p. 285 and fig. 169.
P. Schubring, Cassoni, 1915, p. 255, no. 143.
Ch. Huelsen, 'Di alcune nuove vedute prospettiche di Roma' in Bollettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma, xxxix, 1911, pp. 3-22.
P. Thornton, I mobili italiani del V&A, II, 1969, pp. 77-86.
Materials
Tempera; Chestnut
Techniques
Painting
Subjects depicted
Rome; Horses; Bridge; Soldiers; Cocles, Horatius; Porsenna, Lars
Categories
Furniture; Paintings
Collection code
PDP
