Niccolò de' Niccoli (1364–1437) - Renaissance Personality of the Month

To many, the Renaissance was an age that looked backwards to the glory of ancient Greece and Rome, and which determined the Middle Ages as that dark slump between the fall of the great Roman Empire and its own enlightened days. Petrarch and others used 'the Middle Ages' (a phrase which he first coined) as a means to differentiate itself from what had gone before. Brian Stock in 'Listening for the text', suggests that the Middle Ages was invented during the Renaissance in order for it to define, admire and distinguish itself as a golden age separate from the inhabitants of a dark and ignorant past.

The Renaissance, though looking backwards in admiration, also looked forwards with invention, innovation and genius and it was during the early 15thC in Florence, with the new Humanist movement in full swing, that we find Niccolò de' Niccoli as an example of one of the many legacies left to us today from this period.

As one of the leading figures of the brilliant Humanist circles in Florence, Niccolò de' Niccoli is an expression of the enticing possibilities of socio-intellectual growth within 15thC Florence. Moving in the same sphere as Cosimo de' Medici, Niccolò was the son of a wealthy wool merchant, one of the many who had made their fortune in Florence during its recovery in the aftermath of the Black Death.

Niccolò was dedicated in his recovery of ancient manuscripts and in the circulation of their ideals. Peter Strathern writes, in 'The Medici; Godfathers of the Renaissance'

'Not long after he befriended the young Cosimo, they planned a trip to the Holy Land together to search for lost Ancient Greek manuscripts.'

Although he seems to be a presiding influence over much of Florence's intellectual scene during the first half of the 15thC, Strathern writes

'Niccoli was a questionable influence. Dressed in his Ancient Roman toga, and parading all the affectations of 'sensibility', he cut a slightly absurd figure'

Despite this general consensus, Niccolò proved to be a prominent authority particularly in the University of Florence where his copies of some recently discovered manuscripts of Plato, enabled the study of Ancient Greek.

Though regarded as quarrelsome, noted for his troublesome public love affairs and discredited for his inability to write fluid Latin, the latter hinderance ironically, would be his lasting legacy. His copying of hundreds of rare and ancient texts lead to a distinctively clear and slanting writing style which would later be adopted by Italian printers and came to be known as italic.

His mass collection of great and important texts and his dominance over tastes and styles not only influenced literary and intellectual movements, but would also form the tastes of contemporary artists such as Donatello and Brunelleschi. A contemporary scholar; Poggio Bracciolini describes Niccolò as the very embodiment of classical taste. After his death Niccolò's collection of some 800 manuscripts became part of the Medici Library, which was the first public library in Europe, enabling those who desired the possibility of borrowing and studying the texts themselves.

Niccolò represents both sides of the Renaissance; the looking back and ennobling of the past but also, the forward thinking of a humanist society which would provide for the public and for future generations to come, a wealth of knowledge and a new vision of the old.

Castle of the Month - Clun Castle, Shropshire

Recently we were out on the motorbike exploring the welsh boarders and came across a treasure trove of preserved medieval history in the form of castles, fortified houses & medieval towns in a small triangle of about a 15 miles. Our regular destination of Ludlow has provided a great starting point for us to investigate these numerous remains and so, once a month I will be doing a write up on these local Medieval sites. The series will be called Castle of the Month!

This month we wondered into the vast hills of Shropshire past Ludlow, itself a beautiful Medieval town and which I will be covering in this series at a later date. Clun is a small village, about 15 miles from Ludlow and is embedded in what is still referred to as the Welsh Marches.

Although today it is masked by some more recent developments, Clun Castle is situated on an impressive mound and in 12thC it would have dominated its landscape by the River Clun. The Castle was constructed by the Norman, Robert de Say, around 1140-50 according to Lise Hull for Castles of Wales Website – www.castlewales.com

‘In the early 12thC is became part of the Marcher lordship known as the Honour of Clun to the Norman invasion in 1066, William the Conqueror granted extensive parcels of land along the borders to many of his most prized subjects. These men became Marcher Lords, with the right to build castles and rule their lands as if they themselves were kings. The Marcher Lords still owed allegiance to the English monarch, but had the freedom to administer their feudal estates as they saw fit, much to the displeasure of their Welsh vassals’

The site had been chosen for its obvious defensive advantages, with the presence of a natural rocky mound that must have easily served as the motte for protection. Typically the castle would have been originally built with timber defenses, but, was at some later point upgraded to stone in the usual Normal style.

In 1196, according to Lise Hull;

‘Clun Castle was besieged and burned by the Welsh, under the leadership of the great Lord Rhys in 1196. However, it became the property of the prestigious Fitzalan family, who modified the structure into its present form (sans ruins!) and is responsible for the establishment of the associated village. The Fitzalans, lords of Clun and Oswestry, are better known as the Earls of Arundel, builders of mighty Arundel Castle in Southern England. Arundel is now the home of the Dukes of Norfolk, but many of the Fitzalans are interred in the adjacent chapel. While Clun Castle pales in comparison to the Fitzalan's fortress at Arundel, it is a marvelous example of a Marcher castle, intended to keep the unruly Welsh under Norman control’

On approaching the site the visitor can read several information points before crossing the footbridge over the River to begin the steep climb up the imposing mound. (There is a more flat entrance round the side of the Castle mound through a side street for those who need easier access.)

Although now ruined with only the vestiges of the once formidable Baileys and Keep remaining, the towering impression of this seemingly impenetrable 80ft structure are still dramatic. A four-storied keep, with two floors below the summit of the motte and two others rising above the motte, with arched Norman windows, gives the impression of an organised and high status life, however desolate the positioning of the castle may seem.

The remnants of the curtain wall are still visible today at Clun, dated to around the late 12th or early 13thC. This stone structure would have replaced earlier timber edifices. Two round towers have also survived however; access is now limited due to the instability of the delicate masonry.

On the whole I would say that Clun Castle is defiantly worth your exploration. Although at the moment the Keep is under scaffolding for repair and conservation, it is still an atmospheric place and once at the top, the views across Shropshire and into Wales are breathtaking, evoking images of what life and war in this important Norman stronghold must have been like. Its predominance in the local flat landscape must have seemed severe to the small Welsh community who were overpowered by the Normans and ruled over thereafter.

Clun as a village is lovely and welcoming with a very friendly tea shop by the bridge of the River Clun, offering fine views of the castle and warm tea cakes too! The drive through the landscape to get to Clun is in itself worth the trip and the Castle and surrounds are completely free, but for more information on Clun please visit the English Heretidge website;

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/clun-castle/

See also:

http://www.shropshiretourism.co.uk/castles/clun/
http://www.castlewales.com/clun.html
http://www.clun.org.uk/castle.htm

'New' Giotto Confirmed

After a seven year labour of Love, a young British conservator, Anna-Marie Hilling, can now finally see her hard work certified, as the Ognissanti Crucifix, which has now been confirmed as a true Giotto original, will finally take its rightful place centre stage in Ognissanti church, Florence.

The Crucifix, which is thought to be dated around 1300, stands an impressive five metres high and was originally attributed to one of Giotto's relatives or pupils from his work shop.

Hilling and her team have proved that this is a true Giotto original through the use of Infrared photography & Xrays of the Crucifix. The results showed 'clear proof' of preliminary sketches and preparatory painting done by the early Italian Master.

The Guardian describes Giotto as being,

'renowned in his day for creating religious images that communicated directly with congregations. In contrast with stylised Byzantine art, his depiction of key scenes from the New Testament was thought daring and his newly rediscovered cross shows the crucifixion as a human triumph, with the image of the risen Christ painted above the dying figure on the cross.'

The painstaking restoration, which took a dedicated team of four, every hour of every day for over five years to complete, revealed the beautiful individual brush strokes of the Masters own hand, the use of the precious pigmant Lapiz Lazuli for the background & delicate coloured glass which was used for Christ's Halo.

Hilling states on the Guardian website that,

'The most difficult phase of the work was the cleaning, which involved years of a very delicate and gradual removal of the altered layer on the blackened surface. Every single square millimetre was cleaned with specific chemical solving systems applied under the control of the microscope, as the original layers were extremely delicate.

But the removal of that dark layer revealed the quality of Giotto's painting, with many fine details that were not visible before. In the 20th century the work of art had often been assigned to a collaborator of Giotto – popularly known as "Giotto's relative" – but the thousands of hours devoted to cleaning the painting have helped art historians to confirm it as by the great master himself – Giotto, father of Italian art.'

The Crucifix is currently on display in the Ognissanti Church and will be inaugurated on 6 November.