Wednesday, April 26

MYSTERIOUS PILE



My bookseller in town has hired a new apprentice who eagerly struck up a conversation when he found me at the table with special offers (my usual place). He recommended a book that he assured me was even better than the Da Vinci Code. Somehow, I haven’t got around to reading Dan Brown’s huge bestseller, but in order not to discourage the young man (and admit to my ignorance), I chanced the eight euros he was asking for a first edition of Caldwell and Thomason’s The Rule of Four.

THE RULE OF FOUR

It’s a tale about a rare Renaissance text, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499), coded in seven languages, whose many riddles a group of students at Princeton University is trying to solve. Unlike its subject, The Rule of Four is an easy read but oddly paced. After a while, I began loosing interest in its characters and then it matters less ‘who done it’, I think. The references to Savonarola caught my attention, though. In 1497, according to the book, a sixty feet high pyramid of old pagan source books, unambiguous pictures, carnival masks, costumes and such was set ablaze in Florence on Savonarola’s direction.

“The bonfire of the vanities becomes an unforgettable moment in Renaissance history. Savonarola becomes famous. Before long he’s known throughout Italy and beyond. His sermons are printed and read in half a dozen countries. He’s admired and hated. Michelangelo was captivated by him. Machiavelli thought he was a fake.”

THE LIFE & TIMES OF GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA

In the library, I found a rather ragged green cloth edition of The Life & Times of Girolamo Savonarola (1888) by Professor Pasquale Villari. The Friar is a sinister looking character in his painting by Frà Bartolommeo opposite the title page. Professor Villari states the same measurements of the pile as Caldwell and Thomason and gives a detailed rendering of the day of the bonfire, its mass and holy procession. He then goes on discussing various sources on the content of the pile including Benivieni’s eyewitness account of the fire. He concludes that only a few valuable books were lost on the occasion as most of the pile consisted of carnival bric-a-brac.

To end the discussion Villari presents evidence that at the time no other than Savonarola helped saving the celebrated library of the Medici from the imminent danger of dispersion by selling off land of the convent of St. Mark. By the final payment of 3000 florins to Philippe de Commines in 1498, he “devoted the last remnant of his convent’s property […] in order to preserve the marvellous collection of Greek and Latin codices and the unrivalled treasure of miniatures still contained in the Laurentian Library.”

Poliphilo, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, Venice, 1499

It seems that Caldwell and Thomason have added some colour to the historical background of The Rule of Four. In reality, Francesco Colonna, the author of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, had no cause for alarm. His library wasn’t in danger of being burned except perhaps for the raunchiest miniatures and woodcuts. Had he thrown himself on the bonfire to save the legacy of the old masters, it would probably have been in vain.

Vasari, a later source of Villari’s, takes the world as his witness “to the ardent affection Savonarola had inspired in Frà Bartolommeo della Porta, who for four years after his master’s death was unable to resume the brush.” Vasari also records that Frà Bartolommeo added several of his own sketches from the nude to the bonfire of the vanities. Villari, though, doubts the truth in this, pointing to Vasari’s general hostility to Savonarola. If indeed it is true, he adds, “the blame of the deed must fall on the painter.”

It’s comforting to know that 774 full pages of extreme nineteenth century Italian pedantry abound with extensive quotes in Latin is standing in the library awaiting the eyes of a patient connoisseur of fifteenth century Florence.

3 Comments:

Blogger Sharon L. Holland said...

I have just discovered your blog. The pictures of the garden are lovely, and I enjoy the book discussion. I can almost smell the fresh air on a peaceful day meant for reading.

6:02 PM  
Blogger ela zawrat said...

your descriptions of the changes of weather are beautiful. I imagine that the sky is similar to that of Baltic Coast in Poland.
About Da Vinci Code. I read it long after everybody else, not expecting it to be any good. It's a book with a simple structure of a game "find a clue, go to the next clue" which makes it an extremely fast read. Not a fascinating piece of literature, but…. I very much appreciate how extremely popular it became among the so called masses, considering the subject it evolves around - female spirituality and sainthood. I once saw a cover of a cheapest, worst kind of a tabloid saying something like: "the whole human race will parish if we don't go back to the goddess. Read Da Vinci Code!"

and - thanks for commenting on my blog - work helps, art helps, friendship helps, and yes, long walks help a lot…

8:44 PM  
Blogger Country Dweller said...

Hello Ela, nice to meet you here in the early spring. The period with the most interesting weather, I think. It reads like a good book.

Gods with a gender makes me uneasy for some reason. If I had to choose an image, it would be tree-like with a space-time monocle.

7:50 PM  

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