Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Bassano Fresco by Peter Farey

In the comments on her essay "Marlowe and the Dark Lady" (September 2011), Maureen Duff mentioned a fresco in the town of Bassano del Grappa in Italy, some forty miles north-west of Venice, which appears to have been referred to in Othello. This connection was first suggested by Roger Prior in his article, "Shakespeare's Visit to Italy," 1 where he argues that Shakespeare (whom he assumes is the man from Stratford-upon-Avon) must have visited Bassano at some time, so detailed is his apparent knowledge of the fresco itself and of the town's inhabitants. 

This suggestion seems to have been ignored by Shakespearian scholars, but has been picked up by some non-Stratfordians, such as John Hudson,2 who proposes Emilia (Bassano) Lanier as the true author, and the Oxfordian Richard Whalen. Surprisingly, Richard Paul Roe's book 3 makes no mention of it, and although it gets a mention in Ros Barber's The Marlowe Papers (p.431) no Marlovian has as far as I know written about it in any detail.

The particular passage in Othello which apparently contains the "fresco" references is when Iago – having planted the idea of Desdemona's infidelity with Cassio in Othello's mind, thus driving him into a jealous rage – reacts to Othello's demand for proof. (3.3.405-411)

It is impossible you should see this,
Were they as prime as Goats, as hot as Monkeys,
As salt as Wolves in pride, and Fools as gross
As Ignorance, made drunk. But yet, I say,
If imputation, and strong circumstances,
Which lead directly to the door of Truth,
Will give you satisfaction, you might have't. 

This is a speech which clearly rankles in Othello, as later, having insulted and dismissed his wife in front of Lodovico, he exits with the words "Goats, and Monkeys." (4.1.265)

According to Prior, the fresco was on the front of a house in the "Piazzotto del Sale" – "the little square of salt." It was painted in 1539 by Bassano's most famous painter, Jacopo dal Ponte, usually known as Jacopo Bassano, having been commissioned by the Dal Corno family, whose house it was and who were the official sellers of salt in Bassano.4  
Before looking at this fresco, however, it is perhaps worth noting that in the main square of Bassano there were two apothecary's shops. The owner of one of these had been known as "the Moor" after the sign of a Moor's head which hung outside his shop and, although this particular apothecary had retired by 1585, his family carried on the business for many years. The other was part-owned by someone called Giovanni Otello, a familiar surname in Bassano at the time. Although Cinthio's Hecatommithi, the main source of Othello, concerned both "the Moor" and "Disdemona" (sic), it was Shakespeare who introduced the name Othello for the main protagonist.

Not having seen the fresco itself, which has now been transferred to the museum in Bassano, I have to rely on the descriptions given by Roger Prior and John Hudson. They explain that it is divided into four horizontal bands, the second highest of which is a frieze depicting animals and musical instruments. Two of these animals are a goat with a monkey sitting beneath it. On the third band, roughly underneath them, is a large painting of a naked woman – Truth – who stands between two arched windows, and beneath her, on the lowest band, is a painting of the Drunkenness of Noah. The windows were fitted with slatted blinds, called "jealousies," which when opened appeared as doors partly concealing the naked Truth. The juxtaposition of the goat, the monkey, salt, drunkenness, jealousy, and the "door of Truth" seem to be far too obvious to be only coincidental.

If so, when might the author Shakespeare have visited Bassano del Grappa? To establish this, we need to look at the Bassano family, of which Emilia Lanier was a member. This family originated in Bassano, specializing in the manufacture and playing of musical wind instruments. Probably of Jewish origin, they had left the town by 1515, however, because of the anti-semitic policies of the town council. They settled in Venice, but five (of six) brothers emigrated to England in 1540, becoming members of Henry VIII's King's Music, and founders of the first recorder consort at the English court. By 1590, all of these brothers were dead, but their offspring, including Arthur, Edward, Andrea and Jeronimo, sons of the late Anthony Bassano, continued as instrument makers and court musicians. Emilia Lanier (née Bassano), daughter of Anthony's brother Baptista, was their cousin.

In August 1593, three of Anthony's sons – Arthur, Andrea and Jeronimo – received from the Crown a surprising and lucrative grant, a licence to export an average of over 100,000 calf-skins a year over a period of seven years. In fact, it was a licence the family held until 1621, with Edward also being included in 1607. It is therefore hardly surprising that neither Arthur nor Andrea (nor Edward, in fact) collected their quarterly payment as court musicians in person for the next three quarters and appear to have been away from London for seven months or so. The brothers had inherited a house in Venice, and Bassano was an important centre of the leather-working industry. As it happens, the Otello family had been prominent among the leather handlers of the town, and possibly still were.

Roger Prior suggests that the brothers must have invited Shakespeare to accompany them, having picked up an expert knowledge of the leather trade from his father, who was a glover. We, however, might consider the alternative proposed by Maureen Duff Christopher Marlowe.  His father was a shoemaker who had at one time actually been a "searcher" (inspector) of leather for the Shoemakers Company, the guild which covered virtually all leather-working trades. Was it in fact suggested by "the Crown" that they knew just the man for the job?

One thing we may still wonder is why the author of Othello seems to associate the fresco in Bassano so much with sexual arousal ("as prime as Goats, as hot as Monkeys, / As salt as Wolves in pride"). John Hudson, thinking that the author was Emilia Lanier, suggests that the brothers took their cousin on the trip with them. If, as is popularly believed, she was the "dark lady" of the Sonnets, perhaps he is right!

© Peter Farey, August 2013

Peter Farey is a founding member of the International Marlowe-Shakespeare Society, and twice joint winner of the Hoffman Prize for "a distinguished publication on Christopher Marlowe."



1 Roger Prior. "Shakespeare's Visit to Italy," The Journal of Anglo-Italian Studies, Vol. 9 (2008). The University of Malta. 
2 John Hudson. "Goats and Monkeys" (accessed 12 August 2013). 
3 Richard Paul Roe. The Shakespeare Guide to Italy (2008). Harper Perennial.
4 The member of the family who probably had most influence on the fresco's symbolism and design, Lazzaro Dal Corno, had been awarded the title Conte Palatino by the Emperor Charles V, and the "County Palatine" was, of course, one of Portia's suitors in The Merchant of Venice.

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18 comments:

Anthony Kellett said...

If readers wish to see the picture, it can be found here:

Jacopo Fresco

If you can read Italian, you can also get a description!

Scamel said...

Anthony, thanks for the heads-up. I can read Italian. I am Spanish and, in fact, I am more fluent in Italian, French and Portuguese than in English. On 12/5/2012 I asked the members from the IMSS Google Group if anyone could kindly send me the Roger Prior essay, but it apparently fell on deaf ears...

Peter Farey said...

Thank you to Anthony for giving us the link to an illustration of the fresco itself, together with the description given by the museum in Bassano where it is now located. As he says, this is in Italian, but both he and 'Scamel' have offered very helpful translations upon which I have almost entirely based the following version.

The great fresco comes from Casa Dal Corno, a building that still overlooks the eastern side of piazzotto Montevecchio in Bassano. Removed in 1975 to avoid further deterioration it was placed in the museum in 1975. It is an early work of the artist, precious and rare evidence of fresco production by Jacopo. The meaning of the complex iconography of the work is still being studied: on the upper level there are some cherubs playing with a curtain between balusters arranged in perspective; one of them, on the far left, carries a horn, referring to the principal heraldic insignia of the family. Below runs a frieze of animals, instruments, medals and books in monochrome; lower still, at first floor level, are three large female nudes in niches (perhaps Prudence, Rhetoric and Industry), while in a larger portion of the wall is depicted Samson slaying the Philistines. Finally, on the lowest tier, four biblical scenes are represented framed by ovals, while in the space below the balcony was a dropsical cherub stretched out on two crossed bones near an hourglass accompanied by the motto: Mors omnia aequat (death makes all things equal). With regard to the interpretation of the work, probably designed by the learned nephew Lazzaro dal Corno, it could allude to the relationship between sin and redemption through the various combinations of animals, and the saving sacrifice of Christ through the biblical scenes that foreshadowed it. The general meaning could also be connected to the study of the relationship between intellectual activity and morality and religion, issues addressed nearby at the Aristotelian school of Padua.

RRaymo said...

another great piece by the always interesting Farey.

Alex Jack said...

Peter illuminates the link between Bassano del Grappa, Italy, the Bassano family, and Othello. He notes that the fresco imagery appears in a passage in which Iago, having planted the idea of Desdemona’s infidelity with Cassio in Othello’s mind, drives him into a jealous rage.

It should also be noted that Iago’s wife, Emilia, shares the same name as Aemilia Bassano Lanyer. To the extent that Lanyer is the Dark Lady of the Sonnets, Emilia in the play also shares a sharp tongue and adulterous bent.

As John Hudson points out, Bassano means touchstone in Greek and may be glanced at in the character of Touchstone, the fool, in As You Like It. A touchstone is a hard black stone made of jasper or quartz used to test the purity of gold and silver according to the color of the streak left when the metal is rubbed against it. Touchstone serves as a touchstone to test the integrity and mettle of the other characters, most notably William, the country boy (representing Shakespeare) who tussles with him for the allegiance of Audrey (the Elizabethan theatre audience).

In As You Like It, the proud, disdainful shepherdess Phoebe is portrayed as a black-eyed, black-haired maiden like Aemilia Bassano Lanyer. As the Dark Lady of Arden forest, Phoebe invokes Marlowe as the “Dead Shepherd” and quotes a line from Hero and Leander, further linking Aemilia and Kit. In the commentary to my new edition of Marlowe’s As You Like It, I devote a chapter to Aemilia, the Bassano family, and these connections.

LakerFan said...

And the Stratfordians would also say Shakespeare visited Italy because his plays are set in Italy . . .which is why Stratfordians would make lousy detectives.

daver852 said...

This is interesting, but would Marlowe (who was presumably trying to remain incognito) have revealed that he was still alive to members of the Bassano family only a few months after his feigned death? It should also be pointed out that while "basanos" can mean touchstone in Greek, a more common use of the word is as a synonym for "torture."

Peter Farey said...

Dave, if he was trying to remain incognito, why do you assume that he would reveal his true identity to the Bassano brothers?

Peter

daver852 said...

Well, if Emilia Bassano was the "Dark Lady," isn't it probable that they knew him?

Peter Farey said...

It rather depends upon when the relationship with the 'dark lady' started, doesn't it? My own dating of the dark lady Sonnets (127-154) would be 1597-9, and I doubt whether any scholars would put them much earlier. So, if it actually was our Emilia, their first meeting could presumably have been either during or some time after the trip to Bassano.

Peter

Anthony Kellett said...

"Knew who?" I think is the relevant question, Daver.

Rather sweetly, you seem to assume that people either say nothing or tell the absolute truth. For my part (as I am not so sweet), I would not be so sure even the Dark Lady would 'know' the author of the sonnets; never mind those brothers.

Also, when did the author meet the Dark Lady?

flavius8 said...

Dear Mr. Farey,

I just read your blog about the "Bassano Fresco" and am astounded by your theory. The fresco was the idea of Count Lazzaro Andreatta del Schiva Fietta, who changed his surname to dal Corno. Lazzaro was my ancestor. Your theory is very plausible as I continue to research the life of Lazzaro, an erudite man who loved to write and a patron of the arts.

Sincerely,

Flavio Andreatta

Peter Farey said...

How fascinating. Thanks for telling us. I don't know if you are familiar with Roger Prior's article, but if not you might be interested in what he says about the County Palatine (your ancestor's title) in The Merchant of Venice.

(quote)
This title, "the County Palatine", occurs twice in The Merchant (1.2.64,86), where it belongs to one of Portia's suitors. It is found nowhere else in Shakespeare"s work. The County is the only suitor whose place of origin is not identified - perhaps a sign that his Venetian identity is well known to Portia and Nerissa. Portia judges him to be so gloomy that "he will prove the weeping philosopher when he grows old". The real-life Conte Lazzaro has also been described as a philosopher, and he wrote at least one very gloomy or "weeping" sonnet which Shakespeare could have seen in print. It begins "Piangete Muse, e In dolorosi accenti" ("Weep, Muses, and in sad tones"). Shakespeare may also have in mind. the fresco's most melancholy scene, in which a dead cherub lies naked on top of two crossed bones with an hourglass next to them and the inscription "Mors omnia aequat" ("Death makes all things equal"). As late as 1648 an eye-witness reported that this cherub was accompanied by death's-heads ("fra teschi di cadaveri"). At some time these death's-heads were either removed or painted over, since they are no longer visible. But Shakespeare seems to have seen them, since Portia comments on her two Italian suitors: "I had rather be married to a death's-head with a bone in his mouth, than to either of these" (1.2.49-51, my italics).
(unquote)

I have omitted a couple of footnotes giving sources for what he says about the "weeping" sonnet and the death's-heads.

Peter

Alfa said...

I wish I'd read this when you wrote it, Peter. I haven't seen that particular fresco but my wife and I spent almost the whole of September in that part of the world and I would have loved to investigate.

It's one of our two possible retirement destinations, so we're going back in the New Year house-hunting and I should have time to visit Bassano and the museum.

Whilst I don't think it would be difficult to find similar things, albeit now lost, you can be fairly sure that external wall frescoes didn't travel to England. I do have some pictures somewhere of one.

flavius8 said...

Dear Mr. Farey,

I am puzzled by the title County Palatine. Lazzaro was a count palatine, that is, a count of the palace of the emperor Charles V, which has no relation to a county.

Sincerely,

Flavio Andreatta

flavius8 said...

Dear Mr. Farey,

Could you please explain the use of the title "the County Palatine". A count palatine, that is, a count of the palace of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, has no relationship to a County Palatine.

Sincerely,

Flavio Andreatta

Peter Farey said...

According to the Oxford English Dictionary the now archaic word 'County' was "apparently an adoption of Anglo-Norman counte, or Old French conte or Italian conte, with unusual retention of final vowel...". Perhaps the best-known example of this usage is the 'County Paris' whom the Capulets wanted Juliet to marry in R & J.

flavius8 said...

Dear Mr. Farey,

Thank you for this information.

Flavio