Csornay Boldizsár - Dobos Zsuzsa - Varga Ágota - Zakariás János szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 98. (Budapest, 2003)

SALLAY, DÓRA: A Proposal for a Baptism of Christ-Lunette by Guidoccio Cozzarelli

For the problem of dating the fragmented Baptism of Christ, J. A. Ramboux's unusually specific, though obviously not precise, note on the Budapest fragment is also interesting: "Theil eines grösseren Gemäldes von Matteo di Giovanni da Siena von 1448".

32 In view of the painter-conservator's rather thorough knowledge of fifteenth-century Sienese painting (in the very same note he indicates the years of the painter's activity as between 1470 and 1494, which excludes that he could indeed have meant 1448), I believe we can reasonably assume that 1448 is a simple typographical error. 1484 or 1488 - to remain within the time frame indicated by Ramboux - seem excluded on a stylistic basis, but 1478 would be quite a plausible date. Ramboux rarely provided such precise dates in his catalogue of 1862, in the foreword of which he notes that his data, when not based on Vasari or other art historians, derive from information he recorded on site. Though the unreliability of this data is evident and does not allow for any conclusion, one can at least ponder the possibility it suggests: that the altarpiece from which the lunette was removed could have been dated and this information somehow came into Ramboux's possession. The Budapest-Moscow Baptism of Christ seems to constitute thus an iconographie and compositional precedent to the Sinalunga altarpiece in Cozzarelli's oeuvre and its sources of inspiration should be searched elsewhere. Seeking possible models, it is worth noting that in most of its essential features and some particular details, the figurai composition of the painting seems to rely on Verrocchio's and Leonardo's influential work of the early 1470s, which had an immediate echo among their contemporaries (fig. 9).

33 Though more frontal and greatly simplified, the Sienese composition reflects the Florentine in the postures and the gestures of the two protagonists, as well as in the position of the Baptist's cross, steadied by the fingertips, in the banderole which unrolls from behind the same fingers, or in the pale red drapery covering John's left shoulder and adhering to his shin. Only the angels, kneeling in the Florentine work, appear here standing, in keeping with the traditional preference of Sienese art, which in this respect adhered more closely to earlier compositional traditions in both Byzantine and Western art than Florentine art, which had a predilection for kneeling angels.

34 At the same 32 Ramboux, op.cit. (n. 2) p. 26, no. 144. 33 For recent literature on this work, see Brown, D.A., Leonardo da Vinci. Origins of a Genius. New Haven - London 1998 (esp. pp. 27 and 136, with a proposal for dating the start of the work at the end of the 1460s); Lo sguardo degli angeli. Verrocchio, Leonardo e il "Battesimo di Cristo" (ed. Natali, A.), Cinisello Balsamo - Milan 1998, pp. 61-133. 34 For Siena, see, for example, Bartolo di Fredi (Museo Civico e Diocesano d'Arte Sacra, Montalcino), Domenico di Bartolo (fig. 8), Sano di Pietro (Bologna and formerly Coll. Brunati, cf. n. 23); all of Giovanni di Paolo's versions (cf. n. 23); for Florence, Andrea Pisano (Baptistery, Florence); Giovanni del Biondo (Uffizi, Florence, inv. Contini Bonacossi 27); Agnolo Gaddi and his workshop (cf. n. 4); Masolino (Baptistery, Castiglione Olona); Baldovinetti (Museo di San Marco, Florence), Pollaiuolo (base of cross, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence); Ghirlandaio (cf. both frescos cited in n. 4), etc. Exceptions, of course, can be found on both sides. Notable ones are Ghiberti's reliefs, one of which was, actually, created for the Sienese baptistery (fig. 7) and then incorporated into the Sienese tradition to the extent that all of Giovanni di Paolo's version derive from it.