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MATTEO DE’ PASTI AND PISANELLO: ARTISTICAL CLUES

FOR THEIR ALLEGIANCE

FILIPPO DOMPIERI – PABLO APARICIO DURÁN

Introduction

The aim of this contribution is to try to clarify the current hypothesis about Matteo de’

Pasti’s apprenticeship in Pisanello’s workshop. An attempt will be made to ascertain its

truth and contribute to a better understanding of the context in which the interaction

between master and disciple was possible in the same cultural environment.

In this sense, it will have to begin by assessing the concreteness of the master-apprentice

notion in terms of age, so as to determine if De’ Pasti could really have been Pisanello’s

apprentice. Mateo’s date of birth is not documented, although it can be safely deduced to

have taken place between the first and the second decade of the Quattrocento according

to a notarial document from the 30th of April 1437 in which the artist, then 25 at least, is

mentionedi. If this hypothesis by Gaetano da Re is to be given full creditii, the artist would

have been much younger than Pisanello, by at least seventeen years, given the fact that

the latter had been born before 1395iii. Such an age gap should be enough to claim that the

relationship may have existed, and, in fact, it is the first step for the description of the

interaction between both artists. In order to proceed in such a way, an assertion is to be

made as a point of departure – which will nonetheless prove itself plausible through the

analysis of a portion of De’ Pasti’s production – namely that: Matteo’s training beside

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Pisanello commenced from 1430, when the master began painting the frescos in St. John

Lateraniv.

The production of miniatures

Little is known about De’ Pasti’s miniaturist activity. The starting hypothesis is that his

first commissioned work was around 1440, given that he mention miniatures he is about to

execute in letter 41 to Piero di Cosimo de’ Mediciv; the second occasion, of which there is

certainty, is that he was given ten quinterni of Leonello d’Este’s Breviary, which were

completed in the period between 1444 and 1446vi. It is precisely from this small number of

instances of his production that a familiarity with Pisanello’s figurative repertoire emerges.

Hence the idea of his full adherence to the cultural milieu of the time which, as it has been

noted, revolved around Pisanello.

In order to fully understand the extent to which the master’s work was known, the

attention should be drawn to the two folios that, if anything, reveal Matteo’s closeness to

the artists whose training took place under Pisanello’s supervision. The pages in question

are those of the fine portrait-letter miniature of Titus Livy Ab Urbe Condita [Bibliothèque

nationale de France, Ms. Lat. 14360, f. 268v e 170v]vii (fig. 1) and the incipit’s folio of the

Santorale in the Llangattock Breviary [Houghton Library of Cambridge, Inv. Type 301]

(fig. 2) – once contained in Leonello d’Este’s Breviary – of which will be considered the

figure of Saint Andrew in the top right, together with two musician angels in the margin on

the left and two ornamental medals in the middle of the two longer sidesviii.

The interest of the first of the miniatures resides in the fact that the figure is none other

than John VIII Palaiologos, portrayed in the same way as by Pisanello on the famous medal

of 1438 (fig. 3)ix. This in itself is compelling evidence which induces one to ask how De’

Pasti came to know of the emblem. It is true that this could have been the consequence of

the circulation of the medal, but more likely one is to believe that Mateo is only making

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explicit reference to the portrait of the master which he had witnessed first-hand, while he

was present in Ferrara during the period of the Councilx. Another relevant observation is

that Saint Andrew – present in the folio of the Breviary – is a clear reference to both the

drawing [Oxford, Christ Church Library, n. H.1] (fig. 4) and the fresco with the pilgrim in

the Pellegrini family’s coat of arms, which is found in the homonymous chapel of

Sant’Anastasia in Verona (fig. 5). It is, again, Mateo’s confidence in referring to

Pisanello’s design that is surprising, reinforcing the idea that they had had close contact.

While nonetheless this is an indication that does not prove filiation to the master, it

certainly speaks in favour of Mateo’s presence in Pisanello’s environment after 1434-38,

at the time of the works on the frescos in Sant’Anastasiaxi.

The references to Palaiologos and the pilgrim are direct and can be read either as a

consequence of joining the Pisanello influence or as a result of the direct knowledge of the

master’s production. The indirectness of these two pieces of evidence have led

commentators to dismiss the two references as just mere indications and to disregard them

as evidence of Matteo’s involvement in Pisanello’s workshop. Nonetheless, it would be

completely different if there were references to the drawings made by the workshop in

Matteo’s production. In fact, there exists a similar case in the Breviary’s folio which

ought to be closely considered because it provides a highly significant element of De’

Pasti and Pisanello’s collaboration.

Therefore, regarding the two eminently decorative figures of the two putti which are

present in the left margin of the incipit’s folio in the Santorale of the Llangattok Breviary.

These are direct copia of the musician angels, the two close-up figures in the study of the

Prato’s pulpit belonging to the Carnet de Voyage [Biblioteca Ambrosiana, fol. n. 3] (fig.

6)xii. The reference to the drawing, which originated at the workshop’s core production, is

a fact which has not yet been sufficiently discussed. Contrary to the preceding reference –

Giovanni VIII Paleologo and the pilgrim in the Pellegrini’s coat of arms – considerably

widen our perspective on Pisanello’s profound knowledge and his formative context. In

fact it is difficult to accept the usage as such if De’ Pasti did not take part in the

experience of the workshop. From the vantage point of the design, De’ Pasti appears to

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be more than just acquainted with Pisanello’s iconographic language, but rather as an

artist who is familiar with the whole repertoire created by the master’s apprentices, which

had in the Taccuino their own space for creative developmentxiii. The hypothesis that he

was present in Pisanello’s workshop during the making of the Carnet de Voyage is, thus,

reinforced – from Pisanello’s enterprise in St. John Lateran (1430-33) to the frescos of

the Pellegrini chapel in Sant’Anastasia in Verona (1434-38) – with De’ Pasti directly

taking part in some of the designs contained in it. While such a contribution can hardly be

established due to the overall homogeneity of the graphic designs, it can be hypothesised

for at least five of them as Dominique Cordellier has suggestively pointed outxiv. It is in

fact the design characterised by the interest in the study of the mechanical details of a mill

and a lathe (fig. 7-11), that suggests the responsibility of Matteo in their realization, since

he was not only a miniaturist and a medallist, but also an architect during his years in

Rimini, when he had a main role in the execution of Alberti’s project of the Tempio

Malatestianoxv. Therefore, the intuition of Cordellier extends the scenario and lays the

ground for an ongoing search for De Pasti’s involvement in Pisanello’s entourage. This

intuition of Cordellier can provide the basis for further investigations in this direction.

It is sensible to reconsider the page of Llangattok Breviary and make a few considerations

about two decorative inserts which are of the highest interest. These are two portraits in

the classical fashion, located, respectively, in the centre of the left and right margin and

which denote their association with the culture of Pisanello much more than any other

elements. Indeed, they mirror the master’s speculations about the symbolic and evocative

power of the portraiture, which was renewed by him through/with the medallic production.

In this way the two decorative inserts fit perfectly well in the cornice’s structure of the

leaves and the putti, and they became decorative of the whole, losing their essence of

coin/medal portrait. Nonetheless, important indications about the influences leading to the

construction of the decorative implant in the Breviary’s folio are to be found here. Hence

the need to draw attention to the portrait on the left which recalls the medal representing

the diva Faustina (fig. 12), probably modelled by Filarete’s workshop on some master’s

drawings for the Bronze Doors of St Petersxvi. The reference has value not only because it

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shows De’ Pasti’s acquaintance with one of Filarete’s workshop’s production of the 30’s,

but also since it follows the same use of the image as a decorative element. In fact, the

profile of Faustina was earlier inserted by Filarete in the cornice of the Bronze Doors.

This particular use of the miniature-emblem within the ornamental implant of the page is a

singular instance of innovation on the part of De’ Pasti. For one thing, he was able to

elaborate on Pisanello’s use of the communicative value of portraits, as exhibited by the

master’s medallic production – an art with which Matteo himself was familiar – as well as

on Filarete’s work on the Bronze Doors of St Peters. This last aspect is of major

importance, since it underlines De Pasti’s knowledge of what was done in Rome in the

1430’s, which is furthermore only explained by accepting his presence in the city at the

beginning of the fourth decade. This, indeed, is very possible if all that has been previously

suggested about his involvement in Pisanello’s workshop during the years of the works on

the St. John Lateran’s frescos holds true.

Medallic Production

It is now necessary to analyse the medallic production of Matteo de’ Pasti – as well as

some elements analysed from the corpus of miniatures – in order to find the traces of his

closeness to Pisanello. Also in this case there are not references that give certain answers

about the filiation to the master, but important pieces of evidences that suggest the

relationship between them.

What is now known about Matteo are the series of medals made for Sigismondo Pandolfo

Malatesta – including those with Isotta degli Atti’s portraitxvii – and the independent

production, or rather uncertainly commissioned, consisting of the five medals with the

portrait of Benedetto de’ Pasti, Timiteo Maffei, Leon Battista Alberdi, Guarino Guarini

and a final medal with a Christ profilexviii. This last group is considered to be

chronologically earlier than the one dedicated to Malatesta – to the realisation of which

the Veronese dedicated himself from 1447 to the second half of the 1450´sxix – which

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belongs to the artist´s Ferrara period, which is earlier and followed by the prestigious

commission of the Breviary´s quinterni that was previously mentioned.

The hypothetical presence of Matteo in Ferrara for a prolonged time must have coincided

with that of Pisanello´s stable period at the court of the Este from 1443 to 1445, during

which time he worked on numerous emblems, which De Pasti saw and which served him as

inspiration for his own first production, dating from 1443 to 1446xx. Out of this group of

medals, one in particular, which was dedicated to the Veronese humanist Guarino Guarini

(fig. 13), is to be taken into consideration for what it says about De Pasti´s own time in

Ferrara, spent in close contact and in dialog with Pisanelloxxi. The direct acquaintance with

Guarino is not to be questioned – the physiognomy and plastic precision of the profile in

the medal are undeniable proof of that – although it is hard to say when the first encounter

took place or if they came to know each other at the time when the humanist was the

Dean of the chair in rhetoric in Veronaxxii. It is most likely that, if there was an encounter,

it had to be in Ferrara, where Guarino resided permanently at the time when Matteo de

Pasti had the commission of the ten quinterni of Leonello’s Breviary between 1444 and

1446, as it has already been said. Beyond the attempt to determine which was the first

encounter between the artist and the humanist, not relevant in the dating of the medal, it

is more interesting to note the fact that the subject being depicted is an old man –

probably Guarino in the 1440’s – and not the young master in rhetoric in Verona during

1419 and 1421 nor the humanist in his last years of life depicted in the 1458 miniature in

Strabo’s Geographica (fig. 14)xxiii.

The representation of the reverse is indeed of great interest since it summarizes more than

other medals the influence that Pisanello had on his disciple in the construction of the

allegorical language of the genre. There is the image of a fountain – with a naked youth

standing on the very top for which significance there seems to be no precise interpretation

– encircled by a crown of laurelxxiv. Probably the fountain refers to Guarino as a man of

study – a fons sapientiae from which at the time many came to drink – while the youth –

thirsty for knowledge – could represent the power of having received the master’s

teachingsxxv. How Pisanello’s medal dedicated to Vittorino da Feltre (fig. 15) constitutes a

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model for De Pasti seems evident: Matteo’s fountain image recaptures the idea of the

sustenance provided by the knowledge with which intellectuals nurture their disciples just

as an eagle sustains its offspringxxvi.

To consider Matteo’s medal as a product of his Ferrarese sojourn – the mature traces of

the portrait suggest that it could have been made in the 1440’s – makes it possible to

define the centrality of Guarino in the vibrant intellectual group of Ferrara and in

particular for someone who had the same origin. The idea for the medal was in fact

conceived during the years in which De’ Pasti was again in close contact with Pisanello –

after the former’s autonomous experience between Florence and Venice of which there is

evidence in the above mentioned 1441 letter – just when the master had to do the rest of

his time on probation in the court of the Este, a measure imposed on him through a

directive of the Republic of Venice because of the ambiguity of his behaviour during the

1438 riots of Verona and the day of the assault on the Scaliger city carried out by Niccolò

Piccinino and Gianfranco Gonzaga in 1439xxvii. Matteo probably found the master – in

Ferrara since February of 1443xxviii – in close contact with Guarino, who steadily supported

the artist; and, in this sense, the little 1438 poem in his honour is conclusivexxix. It has to

be noted that the humanist returned to favour in that year: it is not a coincidence that

the benevolent words came when Pisanello became persona non grata in the Republic of

Venicexxx. The reasons of Guarino for constantly supporting Pisanello, even during the

latter’s year in probation – which coincides with the period in which the humanist’s medal

was made presumably by Matteo – were deeply rooted. To celebrate the artistic stature of

Pisanello was certainly a tribute to the master’s excellent skills, but also a declaration of

support to compensate for the artist’s damaged reputation after the incidents mentioned

before. As for Guarino’s own judgment about the matter, little is to be ascertained;

nonetheless – known for his hostile attitude towards Venicexxxi – it is possible to venture

that in his praise of Pisanello there was a defence of the man who claimed his own

independence. In the middle of this there is also De’ Pasti, who was likely to have shared

the other two’s animosity for the Republic, provided that he was present in Venice in

1441 to ask probably for forgiveness before the Council of Ten for having taken part in the

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peoples migration that took place in the province of Verona during 1438, branded a

rebellion by the Serenissimaxxxii. It is now possible to see, from this point of view, the elite

of Verona in Ferrara thinking about the distance from their hometown – which was wanted

by Guarino and imposed on Pisanelloxxxiii. They embraced in constant frequentation of each

other which was marked by a mutual respect and friendship. It is precisely from the medal

under examination that a true sense of clear admiration for the prestigious humanist

emerges – a trait that features in the other medals of the time dedicated to his brother

Benedetto, Timoteo Maffei, and Leon Battista Albertixxxiv – on the part of Matteo and

shared with Pisanello who was his channel to the Ferrara cultural.

Indeed a question can be raised, whether a testimony of the renewed connection exists

which can be considered a proof for of the long relationship, as the case of Guarino’s

medal. There are reasons to believe that any conclusive pieces of evidence have to be

drawn from a noted medal, whose authorship has been up until today mistaken: the emblem

in honour of Pisanello (fig. 16). It has to be attributed to De Pasti – and not to Merescotti,

as some have claimed since the attribution by Hill; or to Pisanello himself, according to

Joanna Woods-Marsden’s readingxxxv – and it has to have been made during his years in

Ferrara, when he worked on Guarino’s medal to show his vicinity to the two fellow citizens

as a demonstration of their alliance. Joanna Woods-Marsden’s hypothesis cannot be

accepted in terms of a logical consideration of the iconographic uniqueness of the emblem

itself: it is a case of absolute innovation because of the association established between

the portrait of an artist on the obverse and the three theological virtues and the four

cardinal ones on its reversexxxvi. Such an approach excludes Pisanello from being

responsible for the making of the medal: to suggest that he would have his own image

appearing in the centre of a laurel wreath – a sign of triumph – and attributing himself all

the Christian virtues seems unlikely. Whatever the case may be, Woods-Marsden’s

attribution to Pisanello is indeed a point of departure from Hill’s traditional reading that

allows for a necessary new line of departure.

Prior to the specific consideration of the attribution, attention is to be drawn, which must

not be forgotten, to the uniqueness of the object. Given that the medal presents, as it has

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been said, a portrait of an artist, with an only precedent in the bronze placchetta with

Leon Battista Alberti’s portraitxxxvii. It is precisely the rarity of the subject being depicted

what partly justifies the need to verify the attributions that have been commonly accepted

until today, so that it is possible to rigorously determine the executor’s identity. For it

should come from a sophisticated cultural atmosphere to which De’ Pasti belonged without

a single doubt – be it as a consequence of his close contact with Pisanello, of which there

is record in the almost contemporary medal for the humanistxxxviii – which cannot be said

about Marescottixxxix. There are, indeed, graphic and stylistic differences between the two

artists that, if taken into consideration, contribute to the assessment of the different

attributions. For that purpose, it is worth noting the important feature of the wreath

surrounding Pisanello’s portrait. This decorative insert is completely absent from

Marescotti’s production, whereas De’ Pasti uses it frequently in his own medalsxl. Another

useful element to approach the emblem to Matteo is the existing analogy between the

inscriptions inserted in the closure of the empty space on the obverses of each medalxli.

Furthermore, it is possible to establish a good level of affinity between the two emblems’

both in their carful detail with which faces are rendered – directed to the mimesis of the

smile – and their equal attention to the fitomorfic element – unknown by the medallist from

Ferrara – which can be appreciated in the detail of the small branch featuring on the

reverse of Pisanello’s medal, which looks as if it has been cut from the vegetation

surrounding the fountain in the medal dedicated to the humanist.

These are the type of resemblances and concordances between the medals of Guarino and

Pisanello which suggest a common executor. It is no surprise that his name does not

appear on the reverse of the medal in honour of the master: the private conception of the

work did not allow for an affirmation of one’s own merit which would have in a way

obscured the artist’s virtue found therein.

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Conclusion

The medals in honour of the two notorious fellow citizens are the living image of Matteo’s

connections in Ferrara at the beginning of 1440. It is probably because of this interaction

that the commission of the quinterni for the Breviary arrived in 1444 c. The miniatures

prove themselves his familiarity with Pisanello’s figurative repertoire and his allegiance

with the cultural milieu of the master’s workshop, from the Roman experience in 1430. It

was when he came close to Pisanello in Ferrara for the second time that he started his own

medallic production, which was the first step in his progressive approach to Sigismondo

Pandolfo Malatesta’s court, which he joined definitively in 1449xlii. Thus, it does not seem

to be the case that De’ Pasti arrives in Rimini right after the master executed two

emblems for Sigismondo in Ferrara between 1444 and 1446 – at the time when Matteo was

present in the city of the Este – out of which Malatesta’s interest in the genre made him

seek to acquire an official medallist at the courtxliii. What occurred during the years in

Rimini remains a chapter apart, but it can be said that it was Pisanello who in the end

paved the way for Matteo’s venture into the Malatesta’s court.

There are simply too many connections here which may too longer be considered unrelated

to one another.

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1. Matteo de’ Pasti: Portrait-letter, 1445-47, Ms. Lat. 14360, f. 268v,

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris.

2. Matteo de’ Pasti: The incipit’s folio, 1444-46, Inv. Type 301, Houghton Library Harvard University, Cambridge.

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3. Pisanello: John VIII Palaiologos, 1438, bronze.

4. Pisanello: Pilgrim, 1434-38, Christ Church Library, n. H.1, Oxford.

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5. Pisanello: The pilgrim in the Pellegrini family’s coat of arms, 1434-38, Chapel of Sant’Anastasia, Verona.

6. Pisanello’s workshop: The study of the Prato’s pulpit, c.1434, fol. n. 13, Ambrosiana, Milan.

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7. Matteo de’ Pasti: The study of a mill, 1428-38, inv. 2284, département des Arts graphique, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

8. Matteo de’ Pasti: The study of a mill, 1428-38, inv. 2283, département des Arts

graphique, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

9. Matteo de’ Pasti: The study of a mill, 1428-38, inv. 2286v, département des Arts graphique, Musée du

Louvre, Paris.

10. Matteo de’ Pasti: The study of a mill, 1428-38, inv. 2286r, département des Arts graphique, Musée du

Louvre, Paris.

11. Matteo de’ Pasti: The study of a lathe, 1428-38, inv. 2285, département des Arts graphique,

Musée du Louvre, Paris.

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12. Filarete’s workshop: The diva Faustina, 1433-1445, bronze, Private Collection, U.S.A.

13. Matteo de’ Pasti: Guarino Guarini, 1443-46, bronze.

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14. Giovanni Bellini: Guarino gives the manuscript to Iacopo Antonio Marcello, 1458, Strabo’s Geographica, Albi,

Blibliothèque Municipale.

15. Pisanello: Vittorino da Feltre, 1446, bronze.

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i It is the notary deed dated 30 April 1437, with which Matteo and his five brothers obtained a feud in Erbè –

south-west of Verona – after the death of their father. Gaetano da Re, ‘Notizie della famiglia de’ Pasti’,

Madonna Verona – Bollettino del Museo Civico di Verona, xix (Verona, 1911) pp. 177-192, 218-226, at pp.

220-221. ii Da Re argues that Matteo must have been twenty-five years old at the time the document was issued,

since there are no records of his age, as there are for his younger brothers. For this reason it is possible to

hypothesize a date of birthday around the 1412. Da Re, ‘Notizie della famiglia de’ Pasti’, at p. 222. iii For Pisanello’s date of birth, see Donata Battilotti, ‘Regesto Documentario’, in Lionello Puppi, Pisanello: una poetica dell’inatteso (Milano, 1996), pp. 236-249, at p. 236. iv There are two documents which prove the existence of the Pisanello’s workshop in Rome: the first one (20

January 1432) is a letter written by Leonello d’Este to his brother Meliaduse, where he asks him to collect a

painting from one of Pisanello’s pupils in Rome; the second one (26 July 1432) is the authorisation of Pope

Eugene IV with which Pisanello and his assistants could leave Rome for a short period. For the documents,

see Battilotti, ‘Regesto Documentario’, at p. 240. v For the letter, see Gaetano Milanesi, ‘Lettere di artisti italiani del secolo XIV e XV’, Il Buonarroti, ii, 4

(Roma 1869), p. 78. The letter is important because, on the one hand, it gives the first account of his

independent activity as an artist; on the other, it shows that he had to go to Venice, forced probably by the

Republic of Venice. It is known that the Council of Ten granted called for all the fugitives of 1438 to return

to Venice on August 9th 1441 and it is possible that that was the reason for him to leave Florence quickly.

To find out more about these sequences of events, see Giuseppe Biadego, ‘Pisanus Pictor’, Atti del Reale Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, lxvii (1907-1908), pp. 838-859; Dominique Cordellier,

‘Documenti e fonti di Pisanello’, Verona Illustrata. Rivista del Museo di Castelvecchio, viii (Verona, 1995),

pp. 47-167, at pp. 77-80. vi It is known that Matteo worked on the Breviary of Leonello d’Este because there are documents about the

payment that he received for his illuminations. See Adriano Franceschini, Artisti a Ferrara in età umanistica e rinascimentale: testimonianze archivistiche, 3 vols (Ferrara, 1993), i, p. 822. To know more about the

16. Matteo de’ Pasti: Pisanello, 1443-46, bronze.

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Pasti medallist, see Gino Castiglioni, ‘Sulle labili tracce di Matteo de’ Pasti’, Verona illustrata. Rivista del Museo di Castelvecchio, xvi (Verona, 2002), pp. 5-57, at pp. 11-16. vii The miniatures contained in the Ab Urbe Condita were attributed to Matteo by Giordana Mariani Canova,

who believed them to be from the middle of the 15th Century. Giordana Mariani Canova, ‘Piero e il libro

miniato nelle corti padane’, in Paolo dal Poggetto, Pietro e Urbino, Piero e le corti rinascimentali (Venezia,

1992), pp. 253-270. viii The miniature was attributed to Matteo by Massimo Medica. See Massimo Medica, ‘Matteo de' Pasti et

l'enluminure dans les cours d'Italie du Nord, entre le gothique finissant et la Renaissance’, in Dominique

Cordellier et Bernadette Py, Pisanello: Actes du colloque organisé au Musée du Louvre par le service culturel les 26, 27 et 28 juin 1996 (Parigi, 1998), pp. 499-520, at p. 503. ix The medal was made during the 1438, when the emperor was in Ferrara. Since the 8 January of that year

the Este’s court had been where the Council took place. x It is possible, if it is true that he escaped from Verona in 1438 (see note v). His direction could had been

Ferrara, where his brother Benedetto was in the Papal household. For a brief account of Benedetto de’

Pasti’s life, see Da Re, ‘Notizie della famiglia de’ Pasti’, p. 179. xi The date when Pisanello started to decorate the Pellegrini’s Chapel is not known, but it is possible that it

happened in 1434, because there is a document that proved his presence in Verona. See Gian Maria

Varanini, ‘Verona nei primi decenni del Quattrocento, la famigli Pellegrini e Pisanello’, in Paola Marini,

Pisanello (Milano 1996), pp. 23-44, at p. 39; Battilotti, ‘Regesto Documentario’, at pp. 241-242. xii To find more information about the drawings of the Carnet – made by the pupils from the 1427 to the 1438

– see Maria Fossi Todorow, ‘Un taccuino di viaggi del Pisanello e della sua bottega’ in Filippa Aliberti, Scritti di storia dell’arte in onore di Mario Salmi, 2 vols, (Roma 1962), ii, pp. 133-161. xiii The drawings were made with the advice of Pisanello, who followed the instructions given by Cennino

Cennini: «Sai che ˑtt’averrà pratichando il disegniare di penna? Che ˑtti farà sperto, praticho e chapacie di

molto disegno entro la testa tua». Cennino Cennini, Il libro dell’arte, (Vicenza, 2009), p. 71. xiv Cordellier discovered that five drawings of the Département des Arts graphique of the Louvre [inv. 2283,

2284, 2285, 2286v] – which had been attributed to Pisanello – are actually pages of the Carnet. See

Dominique Cordellier, Note su alcuni taccuini e gruppi di disegni smembrati in Paola Mirani, Pisanello

(Milano, 1996), pp. 487-497. xv Matteo had a prime responsibility in the execution of Alberti’s projects, since the renovation of the

church had started in 1449. The consideration of their previous relationship is key to the understanding of

the reasons for latter’s position – it can be said to have started either when both of them were at the Este’s

court in 1438 (see notes v e x) or when they worked in Florence under the same patron: Piero di Cosimo de’

Medici. When Mateo left the city in 1441 (see note v), Alberti was organising with Piero the first Certamen. xvi See Charles Jr. Seymour, ‘Some Reflections on Filarete’s Use of Antique Visual Sources’, Arte lombarda,

xviii (1973), pp. 36-47, where he describes Faustina’s medal as a product of Filarete’s workshop, contrary

to Hill who supposes it was made by an artist from Lombardy at the end of the 15th century. George Francis

Hill (A corpus of Italian medals of the Renaissance before Cellini, 2 vols (London, 1930), i, pp. 48-49. The

fact that they were both present in Rome at the beginning of the 30’s is crucial, since it sets in the Roman

environment of the 40s the context for the birth of the medal genre, of which Aberti and Pisanello where the

first instances. xvii For a complete view of the medals made in Rimini, see Hill, Corpus, ii, nos 163-171 and 173-191. xviii Hill, Corpus, ii, nos 158-162. xix The medal (Hill no. 182) shows the year MCCCCLVII on the reverse. As it is known, this is the only

exception, since all the other emblems dedicated to Sigismondo present two different symbolic years:

MCCCCXLVI e MCCCCL. The anomalous dating of this medal suggests, according to Gino Castiglioni, the

possibility that it is the first emblem realized by De’ Pasti in the Rimini court. See Castiglioni, ‘Sulle labili

tracce di Matteo de’ Pasti’, pp. 22-23. xx To find out more about the medallic production from 1443 to 1446, see Castiglioni, ‘Sulle labili tracce di

Matteo de’ Pasti’, pp. 21-42. xxi Guarino Guarini (Verona 1370 ca. – Ferrara 1460) was rhetoric professor in Verona for ten years (1419-

1429), until he was required tutor of Leonello d’Este in Ferrara, where he had always been since 1430 – with

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the only exception of 1436, when he went back to Verona for few months – for thirty years. Famous for his

integrity and the civil commitment, he had in the portrait medal made by Matteo the most significant

celebration of his prominence. xxii To define if there had been contacts it would be useful to find more information about Matteo and his

brothers’ education, in particular Benedetto. xxiii It is the miniature in the Geographia of Strabone [Albli, Biblioteca Municipale], translated in Latin by the

same Guarino. The humanist is depicted when he delivers the manuscript to Iacopo Antonio Marcello, who

gave it to René of Anjou in 1459. xxiv The motif of the crown on the reverse is also present in Benedetto and Timoteo’s emblems. This element

could be taken from the olive crown used as a decoration by Pisanello for many medals dedicated to Leonello

d’Este. See Hill nos. (inserire monete) xxv Scipione Maffei wrote about the medal: «sembra alludere all’essere, come abbiam veduto, stato chiamato

il Guarino Graece et Latine eruditionis fontem». See Scipione Maffei, Verona illustrata, indice dei nomi e dei luoghi, 3 vols (Verona, 1974-1975), iii, pp. 75-76. xxvi The eagle feeding his offspring – on the reverse of Vittorino’s medal – suggests the complete and

harmonious progression of the intellectual, ethical and cultural dimension of the humanists which had had

Vittorino as a master. The entirety of his taught is summarized in the legend: MATHEMATICUS • ET •

OMNIS • HUMANITATIS • PATER. The attribute mathematicus indicates his role as a teacher: mathematics

in Greek, μαθηματική (τέχνη), derives from μάθημα that means ‘learning’ ‘teaching’,

in turn from μανθάνω ‘to learn’. xxvii As Cordellier affirms, Pisanello was with Niccolò Piccinino and Gianfrancesco Gonzaga when they

besieged Verona in 1439 (17-20 November). See Cordellier, ‘Documenti e fonti di Pisanello’, pp. 77-82. xxviii On 21st November 1442, the Council of Ten allowed Pisanello – who had been condemned to stay in

Venice since the 17th October – to move to Ferrara, with the only condition that he remained there. The

decision became operative from 15 February 1443, when Pisanello is documented in Ferrara. See Cordellier,

‘Documenti e fonti di Pisanello’, p. 107. xxix For the poem, see Remigio Sabbadini, Epistolario di Guarino Veronese, 3 vols (Venezia, 1915), i, pp.

554-557. xxx When the Republic of Venice was at war with Gianfrancesco Gonzaga in 1438, it commanded to the people

from Verona who were in Mantua to leave the city. Pisanello – who was working there – did not obey and for

this he was branded as a rebel. To have more information, see Raffaele Brenzoni, Pisanello pittore (Firenze,

1952), pp. 50-51.

It is possible that Matteo de' Pasti had the same problem with the Republic, as it is likely that he was with

his fellow citizens who fled from Verona countryside because of the 1438 plague. His presence in those

places at the time is possible, given that he owned a feud in Erbè, near the border with Mantova. See note i. xxxi The intolerance of Guarino to Venice was well known by the contemporary humanists. In this sense it is

worth pointing out a note written by Pier Candido Decembrio where the humanist makes a disdainful

comment on Guarino’s celebration of Count of Carmagnola, general of Venice: “non eras huius animi,

Guarine, quando cum domino Brunoro contra Veronam militare voluisti”[Codex braidense AH XII 16]. For

an account of Guarino’s attitude about this matter, see Gian Paolo Marchi, ‘Tra Verona, Mantova e

Ferrara: letteratura e scuola ai tempi di Pisanello’ in Paola Marini, Pisanello (Milano 1996), pp. 45-58, at p.

49; Remigio Sabbadini, Epistolario di Guarino Veronese, i, pp. 22-23. xxxii About the possibility that Matteo was considered a rebel, see note xxxi. This hypothesis appears valid

since it is known that he departed suddenly from Florence to Venice in 1441, in the same year, on the 9 th of

August, when the Republic granted the forgiveness to the ’38 rebels, if they came back. For the letter, see

Gaetano Milanesi, ‘Lettere di artisti italiani del secolo XIV e XV’, p. 78: for more information about the call

of the 9th of August 1441, see Cordellier, ‘Documenti e fonti di Pisanello’, p. 79. xxxiii About the reason why Pisanello could not go to Verona, see note xxix. As for Guarino, he decided to

leave his hometown when he became Leonello’s master in Ferrara in 1430. xxxiv The three medals – Hill, Corpus, ii, nos 160, 159 e 161 – were made between 1443 and 1445.

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xxxv See Hill, Corpus, i, p. 24; Joanna Woods-Marsden, ‘Pisanello et le Moi: la naissance de l’autoportrait

autonome’, in Dominique Cordellier et Bernadette Py, Pisanello: Actes du colloque organisé au Musée du Louvre par le service culturel les 26, 27 et 28 juin 1996 (Parigi, 1998), pp. 365-387. xxxvi Seven letters are found on the reverse of the medal, these indicate the three theological virtues –

F(ides), S(pes), K(aritas) – and the four cardinal ones – I(ustitia), P(rudentia), F(ortitudo) e T(emperantia). xxxvii The self-portrait was made between 1430 and 1440. It was a consequence of his experience in Rome.

See Luke Syson, ‘Alberti e la ritrattistica’ in Joseph Rykwert - Anne Engel, Leon Battista Alberti: catalogo della mostra tenuta a Mantova Palazzo Te (Milano, 1994), pp. 46-53, at p. 49. xxxviii For an account of their relationship, see note xvi. It is important to note that what Matteo is mimicking

on the reverse of his medal is the same wing eye design impressed by Alberti in his portrait. This means he

must have known Alberti’s work, therefore the only previous portrait of an artist, which would then point

directly to Matteo as the author of the medal dedicated to Pisanello. xxxix Little is known about the life of Antonio Marescotti. See Dizionario biografico degli italiani, 91 vols

(Roma, 2008), lxx. xl For more information about Marescotti’s production, see Hill, Corpus, i, pp. 22-25; ii, nos 75-87. As it

has been said, Matteo restored frequently to the crown in his first works, as in the case of Benedetto’s and

Alberti’s medals (Hill, Corpus, i, nos 160 and 161). xli The inscriptions are: ·PISANUS· ·PICTOR· and GUARINUS VERONENSIS. It is important to point out the

similarity between the characters used in these two medals and those used in Matteo’s earliest production

for Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, in second half of the 40s. xlii It is known that Matteo moved permanently to Rimini in 1449, where he got married to a native woman,

Lisa di Giovanni Baldegara. For the documents, see Oreste Delucca, Artisti a Rimini fra Gotico e Rinascimento: rassegna di fonti archivistiche (Rimini, 1997), pp. 324-360, at pp. 334-335. xliii To better understand Matteo’s prime role at the court of Rimini, see the letter written by Timoteo Maffei

to Sigismondo where the humanist celebrated Matteo’s work in honour of the lord. Delucca, Artisti a Rimini fra Gotico e Rinascimento (Rimini, 1997), p. 786.