The current exhibition on display at the Hôtel de la Marine in Paris presents a beguilingly beautiful display of Renaissance art that conjures up a world of erudite collectors and brilliant artists. A Taste for the Renaissance: a dialogue between collections combines master pieces f rom the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Al Thani Collection, illustrating how the fashion for creating private art collections reached new heights in the 16th century in the studioli of Italy and the Kunst- and Wunderkammern of Northern Europe.
It is an extraordinary array of the most gorgeous works of art. Gems, jewels, exotica, delicately-engraved rock crystal, virtuoso ceramics, enamel and glass, diminutive statuettes designed to be held and admired and large, imposing sculptures made for public monuments. These outstanding items are displayed with subtle lighting that glints of silver-gilt mounts or sparkles f om the precious gems set in many pieces.
A breath-taking lidded vessel, made of rock crystal, appears early in the exhibition emblazoned with two portraits: that of Giulio de’Medici, (1478-1534), better known as Pope Clement VII, and Alessandro de’Medici (1510-37), first Duke of Florence. Like preceding generations of his family, Clement commissioned and collected rock crystal. One of the most difficult of all stones to carve, it symbolised power on earth and in heaven. It also serves as a reminder of the role that popes and Catholic princes played in collecting and commissioning art of the most exceptional quality during this period of extraordinary artistic production.
Further into the exhibition a number of rock crystal vessels and glimmering jewelled and silver-gilt cups are arranged to give the viewer a visual impression of the magnificence that these objects would have impressed upon a visitor to just such a collection, set on a dresser at a sumptuous banquet.
The private art collections of Renaissance Europe demonstrated a ruler’s encyclopaedic knowledge of art and science, and, by displaying the wonders of creation, these collections celebrated a heavenly benediction on the earthly ruler who owned and understood them – and on their divinely sanctioned power. This is no more aptly demonstrated than by a mechanical globe clock made for the famous Royal Treasury of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II (15521612), whose court in Prague was famous for its cultivation of the ar ts and sciences in the late 16th century. The clock functioned as a model of the universe; it could tell time and predict the movements of celestial bodies in the past and in the future.
Other works provide a fascinating insight into the private worlds of the greatest names of Renaissance Europe. The Forster Codex III on display from the V&A is at first glance a seemingly unremarkable object: a collection of paper notebooks bound in parchment, with small spidery writing and tiny diagrams. This belies its true value, because you look closer and realise that it is a notebook compiled by Leonardo da Vinci and carefully preserved by his pupil, Francesco Melzi, after the artist’s death in 1519.
The tiny writing, in Leonardo’s famous mirror script, and the notes and drawings, are glimpses to be treasured of the workings of this brilliant mind: diagrams to solve mathematical problems, observations on the world around him, special recipes for pigments, engineering designs and inventions and anatomical sketches, to name a few. Placed above the Codex is the Chellini Madonna, a roundel of the Virgin and Child made in bronze by Donatello.
Our Lady gracefully bows her head towards the Christ Child in her embrace; her long, elegant fingers seem to caress his arm, and the delicate drapery of her sleeve gathers over the edge of a balcony decorated with heads of winged putti. A note that survives in the account book of the physician Giovanni Chellini (d.1462) records how this beautiful sculpture was given to him by Donatello on August 27, 145 6 as a gift in thanks for his treatment. It is a tangible connection to the daily life and ordinary relationships of a legendary artist.
Many pieces of the jewellery on display exhibit the magnificent skill of the 16th century goldsmith. The Heneage Jewel is a rare and superb example of the soaring accomplishments of English goldsmiths’ work. Tradition links it to Sir Thomas Heneage (d.1595), Vice Chamberlain of Elizabeth I’s household. On the cover of the jewel Elizabeth appears in profile in gold as an Empress-Queen, whilst the miniature inside by Nicholas Hilliard presents a more delicate, intimate image.
Regardless of which member of the Heneage family was given or commissioned this piece, it was designed to have been worn by a courtier to demonstrate their utmost loyalty and allegiance. An equally superb jewel from the Al Thani Collection also demonstrates the sophisticated taste of mon also dem rt co the ar the art collector in Renaissance England: the Arundel Zodiac. It is an incredibly rare piece – a cameo carved with the zodiac, made in Italy in about 1540, and set in gold and enamel with diamonds and rubies.
It is thought that the Zodiac was owned by the Gonzaga family, the Dukes of Mantua, and later acquired by one of England’s most famous historic-art collectors, Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel, in 1628 – while Charles I and the Duke of Buckingham were also acquiring pieces from the financially strapped Gonzagas. At its centre Jupiter sits astride an eagle, flanked by Mercury and Mars, whilst Neptune can be seen rising from the waves below. Like many of these treasures it has an illustrious provenance that has ensured its survival. The 4th Duke of Marlborough later acquired the Arundel collection from his sister-in-law, and the the Zodiac stood in the glorious su u surroundings of Blenheim Palace until the late 19th century.
The passage of these exceptional treasures from collector to collector, histories that endowed the objects with further prestige, is reflected in the exhibition narrative, which explores the famous history of many of the pieces. An exquisite enamelled tazza, made by Limoges master-craftsman Jean Penicaud II, was owned by Horace Walpole (1717-9 7 ) and displayed in his villa at Strawberry Hill; it is recorded in the “Great Sale” that was held of Walpole’s collection in 1842. A beautiful rock-crystal table bowl in the form of a ship, made by the celebrated Miseroni workshop in Milan in the late 16th century, was owned by Sybil, Marchioness of Cholmondeley (1894-1989), an enthusiastic collector. Other pieces have passed through the collections of many of her Rothschild relatives, illustrating their role as major art collectors and patrons throughout the 19th century.
Such passionate interest in these most extraordinary works of Renaissance art and craftsmanship also informed the collecting of Renaissance art and sculpture by the early curators of the Victoria & Albert Museum, who scoured Europe with a generous purse.
Through networks of friends, collectors, agents and dealers, Henry Cole, John Charles Robinson and Richard Redgrave helped to form one of the most important collections of Renaissance art in the world. Many of the most significant pieces from this collection are now displayed alongside spectacular pieces from the Al Thani Collection on the banks of the Seine. This visually rich and beautiful display offers the visitor profound insight into the astonishing levels of the artistic creativity that produced these pieces, and the complex histories of their remarkable survival.
<em>Cressida Hargreaves studied art history at the Sorbonne.</em>
