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Updated 07-12-08
Lucrezia Tornabuoni de' Medici
(1425-1482)
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"BE ALERT, LISTENER, WITH READY INTELLECT."
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In 1444, ten years after he had begun the consolidation of power that would make him the "first citizen" of republican Florence, the merchant-banker Cosimo de' Medici married his 28-year-old son Piero to 19-year-old Lucrezia Tornabuoni, from one of the oldest and most respected Florentine families. Her father was a colleague of Cosimo, but he also represented a link to the old nobility of Tuscany.
Over the next ten years, Tornabuoni bore six children, four of whom survived to adulthood; she also raised an older illegitimate daughter of Piero. The couple and their children lived with Piero's parents, his brother and sister-in-law, and over 50 retainers, at the Medici palace in Florence or at one of the outlying villas. Except for a few years in the mid-1450s when the Medici were out of power, their influence increased as the years went by. Despite his own ill-health, Piero was at Cosimo's side or traveling as his representative, while Tornabuoni and her children lived quietly.
In 1464, Cosimo died, and since Piero's more active younger brother had died the previous year, it fell to Piero to maintain the family fortune and political position. Since illness often kept him at home, those who sought his support came to the Medici palace; soon it, rather than the government offices, became the seat of power in Florence. Scholars and artists came as well: like his father, Piero supported vernacular literature and the work of local artists. As a result of all this activity at her home, Tornabuoni began to play a role closer to that of the duchesses of the princely Italian states than to that of the wife of a republican merchant-banker. Favor-seekers asked for her intercession with Piero; vernacular poets read her their work and exchanged sonnets with her. It may have been at this period that she began to take her own writing seriously.
After five years, Piero died, and their elder son Lorenzo became, at 20, the head of the family --- and of Florence. Before his death Piero had assigned to his wife the right to distribute as charity the income from some of the Medici properties, an unusual role for a non-royal woman. With this and with her influence over the young Lorenzo, Tornabuoni became a powerful person. She also became involved in business, investing her own capital in real estate projects and financing small traders and artisans. Her profit went in large measure to charity, most frequently to help the powerless --- nuns in poor convents, girls in need of a marriage dowry, the lower ranks of the clergy. Such gifts had the effect of expanding the Medici's political base, but there is no evidence that they were made cynically; Tornabuoni's letters indicate that she truly believed that what was good for the Medici was good for Florence and her territories.
In 1478, Florentine opponents of the Medici tried to murder both of Tornabuoni's sons; her younger son was killed, but Lorenzo escaped. During the battles that followed the murder and the plague that followed the battles, Tornabuoni stayed in Florence by Lorenzo's side. She died nearby in 1482.
We don't know when Tornabuoni wrote the works that we have. In late 1478 the humanist scholar Agnolo Poliziano spoke of her "laudi, sonnets, and trinari" which he had read. Laudi are hymns set to popular music; trinari probably refers to those of her narrative poems written in tercets. Extant are five narrative poems based on biblical stories (storie sacre), eight laudi, one canzone, and one sonnet, all written in the vernacular that the Medici supported. At least two laudi were published before her death; the five storie sacre are together in a manuscript made before or shortly after 1482. Also extant are 49 letters written between 1446 and 1478, which allow us to hear reveal a more informal voice.
On this page you'll find:
Links to helpful sites online.
Excerpts from translations in print:
Letters
Storie sacre, canzone & laudi
Information about selections and secondary sources.
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1. A link to the text of Janet Ross' 1910 collection /study, Lives of the Early Medici, as Told in Their Correspondence, which contains eleven of Tornabuoni's letters as well as letters written to her; you can also download the work as a PDF file (for examples from Ross, see below, under "In print").
2. At this alphabetical list from the University of Chicago's "Italian Women Writers" site, go to Tornabuoni and click on "Texts Available"for a link to the original Italian of the eight laudi, from a 1900 edition. (For the English of parts of one of the eight, "Ecco el re ferte," see "In print.") At the same site, a 2001 bibliography of editions of Tornabuoni's works.
3. The art that Tornabuoni saw in Florence (or Rome) can help you to visualize the scenes of her storie sacre:
(a) For the story of John the Baptist, see these works by Domenico Veneziano and by Benozzo Gozzoli.
(b) Donatello's Judith was in Tornabuoni's own garden in Florence from the mid-1460s until after her death. When the statue was made for Cosimo, the base's inscription read: "Kingdoms fall through excess; cities rise up through virtue; see the proud neck being severed by the humble hand." After a 1466 conspiracy was defeated, this was added: "Pietro de' Medici, son of Cosimo, dedicated the statue of this woman to the strength and liberty that the citizens, through their constant and invincible spirit, restored to the republic" (Tylus, p.47). Two later scenes from the story were also treated by Botticelli (clicking on "More" at the top of the page will take you to a summary of Judith's story).
(c) For a Florentine wedding chest, Filippino Lippi painted three scenes about Esther (click on "More" for Esther's story).
(d) Although it became popular in the 1500s, artistic treatment of Susanna seems rare among Florentine artists in the 1400s; however, Tornabuoni may have seen this fresco by Pinturrichio when she went to Rome.
(e) In contrast, the scene of the angel Raphael traveling with the young Tobias was very popular in 1400s Florence. See these by Pollaiuolo, by Verrocchio, and by Filippino Lippi. (In the original story Raphael was disguised as a human, and that fish was large enough to devour Tobias).
(f) Finally, earlier illuminated manuscripts on Susanna, Tobias, Esther, and Judith, which Tornabuoni also may have seen. Here, you can also link to other manuscript images of each story and to the King James version of the original.
4. A good number of pictures have been said over the years to be of Tornabuoni: the portrait, attributed to Domenico Ghirlandaio, is certainly her; the woman in the frescoes, by Ghirlandaio, is generally accepted to be her:
(a) A portrait done before 1475, probably when Tornabuoni was in her 40s.
(b) In a group of frescoes commissioned by Tornabuoni's brother shortly after her death, the woman second from the right in "Birth of St. John the Baptist"; at the left in this detail from "Birth of the Virgin"; and at the far right in "The Visitation."
5. Reviews (for excerpts from the translation, see "In print"; for information on the collection's treatment of Tornabuoni, see "Secondary sources"):
(a) In a review of several works from the series, "The other voice in early modern Europe," Constance Jordan on Jane Tylus' 2000 translation of Tornabuoni, Sacred Narratives.
(b) Fiora A. Bassanese on the 2000 essay collection, A History of Women's Writing in Italy; elsewhere, another review, this by Laura A. Salsini.
6. For historical background:
(a) Part of a contemporary letter by Piero di Marco Parenti, describing the 1469 wedding celebration of Lorenzo and Clarice Orsini, which had been arranged by Tornabuoni as "an example... of modesty and thriftiness."
(b) Although Sarah Blake McHam's 2001 essay, "Donatello's Bronze David and Judith as Metaphors of Medici Rule in Florence," does not refer to Tornabuoni, it discusses the Medicean view of Judith that would appear in the narrative poem, La ystoria di Judith vedova hebrea.
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[Available online, Janet Ross' 1910 collection of letters includes 11 by Lucrezia Tornabuoni, many more to her, as well as letters of Cosimo. Piero, and Lorenzo. Ross' detailed commentary is helpful on political background, and the book has a useful index.]
Lives of the early Medici, as told in their correspondence,
translated and edited by Janet Ross... with 12 portraits and
facsimiles. London, Chatto & Windus, 1910. (xix, 351, [1]
p. 7 port. (incl. front.) 5 facsim.)
LC#: DG737.42.R7
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[Yvonne Maguire's 1927 study is on Tornabuoni, her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and some of the later Medici women. She includes 19 letters written by Tornabuoni. The book focuses on the women's private lives; there is little political background. An appendix includes a listing of all the then-known letters by and to the women she covers, and an index is provided:]
Maguire, Yvonne. The women of the Medici, by Yvonne Maguire,
M. A. New York, Dial Press, 1927. (xi, 269, [1] p. VIII pl. (incl.
front., ports., facsim.)
LC#: DG737.42 M3
"Based on the essay which was awarded the Gamble prize by
Girton college in 1923."--Pref
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"Do not give way to melancholy."
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[From Tornabuoni's earliest extant letter, to Piero, May 1446. She had been married at 19, a mother at 20, and was now, at 21, visiting a spa trying to recover her health. Her concern for Piero's physical and mental health appears throughout their correspondence:]
Yesterday I had a letter from thee advising me what to do about the baths. I had already settled to do all thou sayest in the letter and whatever Maestro Giovanni [her physician] orders; nothing will seen fatiguing or irksome to me for regaining my health, which I believe by the grace of God will improve, so I think you will all be well pleased.
I see thou hast purged thyself and art going to the villa, of which I am glad; be careful to keep well and do not give way to melancholy....
If thy coming here can be done without fatigue and with pleasure to thyself it would be a great joy to me, but if troublesome and fatiguing to thee, do not come.
I am glad Bianca Marie [her first child] has recovered; how I pray to God that she may continue well..., I leave you to imagine. [Ross, p.50]
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"I beg thee to bear gladly a little discomfort."
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[Twelve years later, in February 1458, Tornabuoni and the five children were at a family castle near Fiesole, while the ailing Piero was in Florence. Cosimo was in the process of establishing "constitutional reform" --- which considerably increased Medici power and so was unpopular with many; Piero, though with little power of his own, had to be with his father:]
This day I received thy letter, which is most dear to me as telling me how thou art. I see that by the grace of God riding has not been too irksome to thee, of which I am glad. Mona Contesina [her mother-in-law] told me the same, and that thou hast been received with great demonstrations of affection.
Truly, as thou sayest, we have much to thank God for. So I beg thee to bear gladly a little discomfort, for these things are not accomplished without some fatigue. [Ross, p.60]
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"You have decided that we are to go...."
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[But less than a week later, Tornabuoni responded --- none too patiently --- to Piero's abrupt order to move the entire household to a Medici villa nearer Florence:]
This evening I have received your letter saying you have decided that we are to go to Careggi. I must see how we can clean and scour and to do all the needful things, and get in the necessary provisions, as you write....
I wanted one of the sheets without hem-stitching from the antechamber, but you have sent me one from the bed in our room. I am sending you this back.... [Maguire, p.66]
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" I spoke to Piero...."
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[In 1464 Cosimo died, and Piero became the"first citizen" of Florence. All whom Cosimo had exiled began to petition to return, and many turned to Tornabuoni as an intermediary. Among them were the sons of Alessandra Strozzi; in early 1465 Tornabuoni responded to a request from Filippo Strozzi (the Strozzi exiles did return by the end of the year):]
...I see that you trust me as I would wish. I spoke to Piero as you asked me to do.... He heard everything most willingly, and I think he will do it, for he speaks of you with so much affection and wants to do something to please you. [Maguire,p.70]
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"...not so winning as those of our girls."
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[After marrying two daughters to prominent Florentines in 1466, in the following spring Tornabuoni went to Rome to begin negotiations for a wife for the 18-year-old Lorenzo. Her own marriage had helped to consolidate the Medici position in Florence; now the goal was to become affiliated with the Roman aristocracy closest to papal power. The Orsini family was being considered, and Tornabuoni made regular reports to Piero at home:]
On the way to S. Peter on Thursday morning I met Madonna Maddalena Orsini, sister to the cardinal, with her daughter, who is about fifteen or sixteen years old [she was 14]. She was dressed in the Roman fashion.... In this dress she seemed to me handsome, fair, and tall, but being so covered up I could not see her to my satisfaction.
Yesterday I paid a visit to the said Monsignor Orsini in his sister's house.... We talked for some time and I looked closely at the girl. As I said she is of good height and has a nice complexion, her manners are gentle, though not so winning as those of our girls, but she is very modest and would soon learn our customs.... She does not carry her head proudly like our girls, but pokes it a little forward; I think she was shy, indeed I see no fault in her save shyness....
In short I think the girl is much above the common, though she cannot compare with Maria, Lucrezia, and Bianca. [Ross,pp.108-109]
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"There has been no parleying."
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[The rest of the letter deals with the Orsini wealth and influence. The next day Tornabuoni assures Piero that he is committed to nothing. Lorenzo had seen the girl, Clarice, at mass two years before; he would not see her again until the wedding, two years later:]
...[O]ur seeing the girl was managed quietly, without ceremony; so should nothing come of it thou wilt lose naught, as there has been no parleying. The maiden has two good qualities, she is tall and fair; her face is not pretty, but it is not common, and her figure is good.
Lorenzo has seen her, find out whether she pleases him, there are so many advantages that if he likes her we may be content. Her name is Clarice. [Ross, pp.109-10]
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"Thou sayest I write coldly...."
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[Tornabuoni's description must have been seen at Florence as less than enthusiastic; three days later, she responds to a letter from Piero:]
Thou sayest I write coldly about her; I do it not to raise thy hopes too high; there is no handsomer girl at present unmarried in Florence. On my return I will tell thee all, and as I said before, we shall be able to arrange matters, so at present I will say no more. [Ross, p.110]
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"...would give me great pleasure."
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[Tornabuoni became ill on her Roman trip and never regained full health; many of her later letters are from a spa where she was trying to get well. Although Piero would live until the end of 1469, it is Lorenzo to whom she now turned to appeal for those whom she wished to help (at one point Piero wrote angrily to her about Lorenzo's taking center stage too soon). In October 1467, Tornabuoni asks Lorenzo to arrange for a position for a protege:]
So please speak to Filippo,... and do everything in the proper quarters, so that Ser Pavolo may get the hospital, which would give me great pleasure. [Maguire, p. 85]
[And six months later, looking for a parish for a priest, she writes Lorenzo:]
This would give me great pleasure, and I am sure that if you will attend to this with your usual diligence, the desired conclusion will be attained. [Maguire, p,204]
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"...and the bugs are as big as capons."
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[In the years after Piero's death, the letters to Lorenzo reveal a lighter side of Tornabuoni. In May, 1477, describing her quarters at the spa:]
To begin with, the rooms are like those of an alchemist and the bugs are as big as capons. Lionardo and Sano can testify to this, they were the first to begin the hunt. [Ross, p.179]
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"Do not let the carrier return empty."
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[And two weeks later:]
I send you sixteen flasks of good Greek wine: eight of Poggibonsi, marked with ink; and eight Colle. To us they seem good, you must however choose. ...[A]s I had these and they seemed to me good I send them, for I think they may please you.
Do not let the carrier return empty. Oranges, biscuits, and marino would be met with banners flying. [Ross, pp.179-80]
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"We are celebrating it with great rejoicings."
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[In the middle of June, 1477, preparing to return to Florence for the important civic feast of St. John the Baptist, Tornabuoni heard of the planned marriage of a grandson:]
I am delighted to hear of the marriage arranged between Cosimino Rucellai and the daughter of the Marquess Gabrielle. Quite an unexpected piece of good news.... We are celebrating it with great rejoicings, and so are all the people of the Bagni.
By the grace of God, I am well and have nearly finished my baths. I have decided, if it pleases God, to leave this on the 21st.... [O]n Monday the eve of S. John we shall be at home. I do not see my way to come before, as I am still weak from the effects of the baths. But should any necessity arise for me to come sooner, let me know and I will leave all. Send the horses, if it suits thee, to arrive here on the 19th, so that they can rest on the 20th, and as I have said, we start early on the 21st. [Ross, pp.182-83]
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"If thou hast sent the horses before the time fixed...."
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[Someone erred and sent those horses early; Tornabuoni was not amused and let Lorenzo know it. This is her last extant letter:]
To-day the 18th the horses have arrived, two days before the time; I suppose by the overzeal of whoever was charged to send them. It does not matter, although there is a dearth of stabling, straw, and oats, but we have sent them where they will be well cared for and fed until we leave as I said on the 21st....
We shall not be at Florence before Monday for the reasons already given. So that if thou hast sent the horses before the time fixed in order that I might be home earlier, forgive me: if I had received a letter from thee urging me to return I should have left at once without considering my own convenience and well-being....
Salute the family and tell them I shall be at home on the vigil of S. John, if it pleases God, for I never expected to live so long. [Ross, p.183]
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[Jane Tylus has edited and translated all of Tornabuoni's extant poetry (except one secular sonnet): five storie sacre, eight laudi, and one canzone. The general introduction and those to the individual works are detailed, the notes are useful in pointing out changes made to the biblical originals, and the bibliography includes the few English-language studies (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Sacred narratives / Lucrezia Tornabuoni de' Medici; edited
and translated by Jane Tylus. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 2001. (x, 300 p.)
LC#: PQ4664.T59 P613 2001; ISBN: 0226808521, 0226808548
Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-296) and index
Storie sacre
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"Here I linger, doing nothing."
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[La vita di Sancto Giovanni Baptista, on the patron of Florence, is presented first in the earliest manuscript. A popular image of the period was that of the young John leaving his home:]
So gracious and comely was John
that whoever knew him bore him love,
but he often chose to remain thoughtful and alone,
and he told no one what he carried in his heart.
He would say to himself: "Here I linger, doing nothing;
I must take myself away from here,
where I live with ease and am well cared for;
my home must be in the desert."
Then one morning he stole away
without telling anyone, departing alone
through the gate; his thought and his plan
were to go to the desert without a guide.
And once in the desert, he said to himself:
"This air and this place bring me comfort,
here I will stay alone as I please;
I enjoy living among wild beasts and birds." [p.234]
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"...with consummate skill, began to dance."
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[In her narrative, Tornabuoni makes little of the personality of Salome (we are told nothing of her thoughts), and her mother is a stock villain. But the description of Salome's dance at Herod's great banquet is vivid:]
The instruments were tuned, and the musicians
began to play sweet melodies.
this young girl got to her feet
and gaily and joyously,
with consummate skill, began to dance,
first slowly, so that she hardly seemed to move;
when she had finished her lingering steps,
she stopped for a moment and pensively stood.
After she had paused a little in thought,
she again took up the dance, this time
in a more incontinent vein....
If she did not give them their full of dancing!...
With every leap you could hear their cries
as they saw her twirl about so gracefully,
and all admired her in much happiness.
This joy would quickly turn to grief.
See the things that soon will follow
thanks to her dancing; for it
was this alone that made John die.
Be alert, listener, with ready intellect,
and you will see these pleasures turn to weeping.
How brief were the feasting and the joy!
Everyone would depart in grief and distress. [pp.256-57]
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"Lord, you made her bold...."
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[At the opening of her second narrative, La ystoria di Judith vedova hebrea, Tornabuoni prays:]
I found her story written in prose,
and I was greatly impressed by her courage:
a fearful little widow,
she had your help, and she knew what to do and say;
Lord, you made her bold and helped her plan succeed.
Would that you could grant such favor to me,
so that I may turn her tale into rhyme,
in a manner that would please....
Whoever would like to tell of kingdoms
made desolate through pride---
kingdoms once of great nobility and worth---
would need too much time to name them all. [pp.123-24]
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"Our appetite is never satiated."
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[Tornabuoni seems as interested in the political moral of Judith's story as in the heroine herself. The whole first half of the poem tells of "kingdoms made desolate through pride," of cities destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar:]
For him, one great victory was not enough;
our appetite is never satiated.
Thus he sought to usurp glory even from God,
his mind blinded and full of presumption,
King Nabuc completely lost his senses.
Observe this strange and disrespectful work,
and note that one cannot do worse in this world
than try to equal or be greater than God. [p.130]
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"She was valorous and had a manly heart."
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[After destroying the nearby cities, the king's general Holofernes came to Bethulia:]
In the city there was a young woman
very virtuous and very beautiful too.
Judith was her name, and she was gracious,
noble and worthy, and possessed of every goodness;
she was valorous and had a manly heart,
hers was an honest and virtuous life.
For three years she had lived all alone as a widow,
and Judith did not seek another husband. [p.145]
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"It would have been fitting for a strong and sturdy man."
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[Through deception, Judith won her way into Holofernes' camp. When Holofernes fell into a drunken sleep, Judith prayed:]
Once she had said her prayer
Judith rose, her heart resolved,
and in one hand she grasped a sword she had found
leaning against a column or the wall,
and so well did the young woman brandish it
it would have been fitting for a strong and sturdy man;
she struck him twice, with force,
and his head rolled away from his shoulders.
And after this the valiant woman
cut it clean, for there was little left to do,
and she took it carefully in her hands
and she gave it to her handmaiden,
and she said to her, "Say nothing";
and from the curtain encircling the bed,
she tore a piece of fabric and bundled into it
only the head, which she intended to carry away.
Then the young woman instantly departed,
making her way toward the city,
and her servant carried the head.
They arrived at the gate, and she began to call out:
"Open up at once, and let us make merry;
now come out with clean hearts to thank
out great and omnipotent God,
for to us he dispenses his favor!" pp.155-56]
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"And I will sing of Queen Vashti...."
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[In La ystoria di Hester regina, Tornabuoni gives more attention to Ahasuerus' first wife than did her biblical source:]
In the name of Jesus, human and divine,
I will begin, and in him alone I hope,
and trust that he will not abandon me
as I tell of that great king, Ahasuerus,
and his wife, whom he held in such esteem.
Niece of Mordecai, a most just and holy man,
she was called Esther, and was wiser than the king's first.
And as I will tell you in my rhyme,
she liberated her people from death,
from the hand that was so powerful and strong,
that sought to kill the children of Israel.
But God protected them from that fate.
And I will sing of Queen Vashti, who withheld herself
from her husband and was disobedient,
whence she deserved the shameful things that befell her.
Oh how sad she was, and mournful,
because she had not obeyed her lord.
But when repentance comes too late, it is of little use. [p.168]
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"...so that their husbands have no reason to leave them."
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[When Ahasuerus' queen, Vashti, refused, without explanation, to appear at a banquet, the angry king asked advice of his counselors. They were concerned not only with the insult to the king but with the repercussions of the queen's action. Their spokesman said to the king:]
"And thus would arise a great heresy,
for women will refuse to obey their husbands,
and men will be unable to govern their wives.
All the women will speak with passion
of this rebellious queen, and they all will say,
'We will make our husbands timid and meek.'....
"Let him [the king] find another wife, more to his liking,
one who will be better, more obedient,
who will hold her lord in far more respect.
And may this also be announced to all people:
'All wives and any woman who wishes to marry
must be courteous, wise, and respectful,
so that their husbands have no reason to leave them.'" [p.176]
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"...to act justly..., to administer the law with equity."
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[Cosimo and Piero had been accused of offenses against the Florentine republic. In La ystoria della devota Susanna, Tornabuoni shows her indignation at officials who make such accusations. First, on the proper role of the elders "elected" by the Hebrews (in her biblical source, they had been appointed):]
During that year, they had elected
two of the eldest and most fit to govern
and serve as judges and give the people good precepts,
and for a year they served as their leaders,
chosen to admonish everyone in words and in deeds,
to act justly in matters great and small,
to administer the law with equity,
to settle quarrels and to correct errors. [p.61]
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"They are the evil ones full of sly deceits."
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[When Daniel trapped the elders in their lie against Susanna, the people judged their crime:]
We have seen the foolishness and ignorance
of the elders: they should have given good rules
to whoever fell into similar crimes;
they should have avoided shortcomings and vicious sin
so they could admonish others;
but they are the evil ones full of sly deceits. [p.69]
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"Whoever hears and reads this little work...."
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[And the poem concludes:]
Whoever hears and reads this little work,
may they take compassion on the innocent
and solace in the way justice disposed of those two.
After that, Daniel was held in esteem
by all people always, for he had revealed
the truth of what happened to that distressed woman:
he gave a judgment that was just and true. [p.71]
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"...that he might go and return in safety."
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[The image of the angel Raphael, the patron of travelers like many of the merchants of Florence, was one of the most popular in 1400s Tuscan art. From the opening of La vita de Tubia, a prayer:]
Oh, send me Raphael as my guide and companion,
he whom you sent to accompany
the only son of Tobias on unknown paths.
He knew how to protect him in such fashion that
he might go and return in safety;
and he gave him a wife of noble standing.
He recovered his gold and his silver;
he received as many sheep as he did oxen and camels,
and all was restored and he was greatly contented.
And so it is then with all who serve God
until they have reached a ripe old age,
they are remunerated by their good Lord. [p.77]
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"This good work is very important."
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[When the elder Tobias asked a disguised Raphael, to guide his son on a journey:]
"Fear not," said the angel; "I will protect
him
from all evil, and I will lead him back to you safely,
because this good work is very important."...
Tobias answered him, humbly and plainly:
"May you travel in safety, and may God be with you;
may his angel accompany you over hills and plains
so that the adversary does not trouble you." [pp.95-96]
Canzone
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"What they lost was delight."
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[The canzone "Della stirpe regale, e nato il fiore" was included with the five storie sacre in the earliest manuscript. It sings of the redemption of the human race. Here, on Adam and Eve after the fall:]
They did not lose their garments or their rich raiment;
Nor jewels from the East or magnificent treasures.
They lost neither castles, cities, nor kingdoms:
What they lost was delight; and thrust out of the choir,
They found themselves surrounded by troubles....
And they stand still knowing not what to do:
"What life is this? What works are now ours?
Will we know what to do to stem his wrath?"
They ask each other, "for we have few friends,
Only each other with whom to lament
How foolish desire
Made us lose so much...."
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"And now we have learned everything, to our grief."
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[Adam and Eve prayed to God:]
And they spoke with devout words and upturned eyes
And each of them shed copious tears
As they grieved for the boundaries they had trespassed.
They said, "We had license with all of the trees;
We wanted to taste them
To make ourselves equal
To our great maker, to know the lofty intellects,
And now we have learned everything, to our grief;
Now we are like God,
But trapped by the devil, through his deceit.
"Is there a remedy for us, O our Lord?
Will you ever look with favor on this our sin?....
"Lord, help us see clearly,
So the venomous worm will no longer harm us."
-------------------------------------------------------
"...comforting them, though they are rebels."
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[Their prayer was answered by the death of Christ. The end of the canzone:]
And so it was essential that he come to earth
And lift all prohibitions,
And with his meekness, he will win the war.
Simple little song, go forth with fervor;
Comforting them,
Though they are rebels
So they may turn to seek God's mercy
And beseech his pardon with humble hearts
And faithful hope;
He will be their guide as they regain their gift! [pp.284-86]
Laudi
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"To release us from our troubles."
-------------------------------------------
[The lauda "Ecco il Re forte" was one of Tornabuoni's most popular, set to the music of a well-known song and appearing in a half-dozen manuscripts over the next century. It celebrates the the day between Jesus' death and resurrection, during which he went down to hell to free the faithful. The first three lines are the refrain, repeated after each stanza (you can see the original Italian online). The opening:]
Here is the strong king
Here is the strong king
Open up the gates!
O infernal prince of hell,
Do not resist his entrance:
This is the celestial king.
Who comes with almighty power:
Do him reverence instead
And open wide the gates.
Who is this great one,
Who comes in victory?
He is the almighty Lord,
He is the Lord of glory.
The victory is his alone;
For he has conquered death.
He has won the battle,
That endured for many years;
He makes the whole earth tremble
To release us from our troubles.
He seeks to replenish heaven's thrones
So he can restore his court. [pp.280-81]
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[This anthology includes Tornabuoni's lauda, "Ecco il Re forte," in the original and in a translation by Laura Anna Stortoni and Mary Prentice Lillie. Stortoni's introduction to the poem is useful. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Women poets of the Italian Renaissance: courtly ladies and
courtesans / edited by Laura Anna Stortoni; translated by Laura
Anna Stortoni and Mary Prentice Lillie. New York: Italica Press,
1997. (xxxiii, 267 p.: map)
LC#: PQ4225.E8 S838 1997; ISBN: 0934977437
English and Italian. Includes bibliographical references (p.
255-264) and index
-----------------------
[Despite its title, Patrick Macey's collection includes pre-Savonarola
works, among them the scores, the original Italian, and Macey's
translation of the first verses of two of Tornabuoni's laudi:
"Deh venitene pastori," and "Ecco 'l Messia."
(See the book's
table of contents online.):]
Savonarolan laude, motets, and anthems / edited by Patrick
Macey (Recent researches in the music of the Renaissance; 116).
Madison: A-R Editions, c1999. (1 score (lxxiii, 236 p.): facsims.;
28 cm)
M2 .R2384 v.116, 1999; ISBN: 0895794365
Historical, technical, and bibliographic notes: p. ix-xxi
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[This biography of Tornabuoni by Maria Grazia Pernis and
Laurie Schneider Adams is a useful introduction to her life and
times. One chapter, "Lucrezia's Poetry," summarizes
the five storie sacre; brief excerpts from Tornabuoni's
correspondence are given throughout the book, in the authors'
translation. (See
the book's table of contents online.):]
Lucrezia Tornabuoni de' Medici and the Medici family in the fifteenth
century / Maria Grazia Pernis and Laurie Schneider Adams. New
York: Peter Lang, c2006. (181 p.: ill.)
LC#: DG737.58.T67 P47 2006; ISBN: 0820476455
Includes bibliographical references (p. [163]-174) and index
-----------------------
[Francis W. Kent's article is a detailed study of Tornabuoni's
life. Kent gives his own translations from letters by and to
Tornabuoni, some of which can be found in neither Ross or Maguire
(above):]
Kent , Francis W. Sainted mother, magnificent son: Lucrezia
Tornabuoni and Lorenzo de' Medici. Italian History & Culture,
3 (1997) 3-33.
LC#: DG441 .I83; ISSN:1123-2463
----------------------
[Although this essay collection is directed at instructors who use in their teaching the works from the "Other Voice in Early Modern Europe" series, Jane Tylus' contribution "Teaching Tornabuoni's Troublesome Women" may be of interest to the general reader in its discussion of the relationship between Torabuoni's storie sacre and the works of art available to her in Florence. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Teaching other voices: women and religion in early modern
Europe / edited by Margaret L. King and Albert Rabil, Jr (Other
voice in early modern Europe). Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 2007. (vii, 244 p.: ill.)
LC#: BL458 .T43 2007; ISBN: 9780226436326
Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-233) and index
-----------------------
[Rinaldina Russell's 10-page entry in this reference work includes a discussion of the themes found in Tornabuoni's letters, the storie sacre, and especially in the laudi. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Italian women writers: a bio-bibliographical sourcebook /
edited by Rinaldina Russell. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press,
1994. (xxxi, 476 p.)
LC#: PQ4063 .I88 1994; ISBN: 0313283478
Includes bibliographical references (p. [447]-452) and index
----------------------
[Judith Bryce's essay in this history, "The Fifteenth Century: Vernacular Poetry and Mystery Plays," briefly discusses Tornabuoni's plays and compares them with those of Antonia Pulci. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
A history of women's writing in Italy
/ edited by Letizia Panizza and Sharon Wood. Cambridge [England];
New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. (xvi, 361 p.)
LC#: PQ4055.W6 H57 2000; ISBN: 0521570883, 0521578132
Includes bibliographical references (p. 282-350) and index
---------------------
[Natalie Tomas' study discusses the ways the women of the Medici family used their influence in the century during which Florence was a republic. Tornabuoni is one of the chief focuses of the first three chapters; Tomas speaks briefly of her writing but in much detail of her role as a patron and a bussinesswoman. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Tomas, Natalie. The Medici women: gender and power in Renaissance
Florence (Women and gender in the early modern world). Aldershot,
Hampshire, England; Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, c2003. (xvi, 229
p.: ill., ports.)
LC#: DG737.42.T66 2003; ISBN: 0754607771
Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-212) and index
---------------------
[Katherine J.P. Lowe's essay, "A Matter of Piety or of Family Tradition and Custom? The Religious Patronage of Piero de' Medici and Lucrezia Tornabuoni," compares charitable gifts made by Piero to those made by Tornabuoni. Although Tornabuoni's charity has been seen as less politically motivated than Piero's, Lowe suggests that the gifts of both were motivated by simple piety:]
Piero de' Medici "il Gottoso" (1416-1469): Kunst
im Dienste der Mediceer = Art in the service of the Medici /
herausgegeben von Andreas Beyer und Bruce Boucher; mit Beiträgen
von Francis Ames-Lewis ... [et al.] ( Artefact; Bd. 6). Berlin:
Akademie Verlag, c1993. (xx, 401 p.: ill.)
LC#: N5273.2.M44 P54 1993; ISBN: 3050023686
Papers presented at a conference held in 1991 at Bad Homburg.
Includes bibliographical references and index. In German or English;
introduction in German and English.
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Updated 07-12-08