Material culture, marriage and gender in Renaissance Italy
flesh certainly challenges the general conclusions previously drawn from the ring ceremony.
This exposes one of the key difficulties of an emic analysis of material history. In all periods of histories there are anomalies which don’t conform to our wider understanding of the period. The difficulty is in determining which of these are anomalies or whether these contradictions are numerous enough to challenge our historical understanding. In this case the religious language is seemingly an anomaly to the largely secular marriage of the period, 27 while the individual inscription seems likely exclusive to the ring the husband gave his wife and not affecting the wider process of family members gifting rings to the bride. If the ring ceremony was the private confirmation of the marriage, it was the nozze, wedding ceremony, which involved a procession through the streets, that legitimized the marriage in the eyes of the public. 28 A key part of this procession was the cassone, which served to hold the objects and money which made up the dowry, rather than displaying it openly during the procession. 29 As the marriage ‘rituals’ became more exaggerated, the cassone became more intricate in order to project the wealth of the families involved in the marriage. As a part of this evolution, cassoni became increasingly painted with narrative paintings, often depicting scenes from classical mythology layered with symbolism and meaning. 30 However, there are a number of caveats when analysing the symbolismbuilt into the cassone. While the Renaissance saw an increase of literacy, especially due to the interest in classical texts, 31 literacy still lacked especially for women whom fathers often chose not to educate. 32 Moreover, the records of the contemporary response to the cassone is limited, with women once again excluded from the male- dominated records, meaning it is extremely difficult to construct individual responses to the narrative paintings. In order to further explore the issue, Figure 3 and Figure 4, the rape of the Sabine women, must be considered, including theway the story is altered in the panels. Keen to satisfy his largemale population and continue the expansion of his city, Romulus, who had founded the city of Rome, orchestrated the abduction of the Sabine women, mostly virgins. This prompted a war between the Romans and the Sabines, which was ended when the women intervened, placing the blame for the war on themselves, which resulted in a peace treaty. This scene is depicted on a number of cassoni but makes a number of changes to the story which raise important questions about gender in Renaissance Italy. The central figure in Figure 3 is Hersilia, daughter of Titus Tatius, Sabine leader, and wife of Romulus, who according to Livy went into the battle with streaming hair and torn clothes. 33 Instead Lo Scheggia, the painter, depicts Hersilia in ceremonial dress, making the scene seem more like a choreographed ritual than the chaotic scene Livy described. 34 Meanwhile, the other female figures are huddled behind her in modest dress. Moreover, the presence of the children in the middle of Figure 3 provide physical
27 Diefendorf 1987. 28 Krohn 2008: 12. 29 Ibid. 30 Baskins 1998: 16. 31 Witt 1995. 32 Witt 1995. 33 Baskins 1998: 112 34 Ibid.: 113.
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