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Frieze

a frieze adorning the facade of the villa at Poggio a Caiano, below clock and bell

This frieze — the largest glazed terracotta relief of the Italian Renaissance — adorned the facade of the villa at Poggio a Caiano, designed for Lorenzo de’ Medici by Giuliano da Sangallo in the 1480s. Its dating, authorship, and interpretation have been the subject of debate. The generally accepted attribution to Bertoldo as designer and primary executor of the frieze is supported by similarities between figures in the frieze and other sculptures by Bertoldo, as well as the report of Bertoldo’s stay in Poggio a Caiano, where he died in 1491. Conservators recently identified what appeared to be at least five different hands of varied levels of skill in modeling. Presumably, members of a specialist workshop in glazed terracotta (like that of Andrea della Robbia or Benedetto Buglioni) were also involved.

There is no consensus on the interpretation of the complex iconography, though scholars agree that the allegory celebrates the Medici and Lorenzo himself and that a humanist in Lorenzo’s circle, such as Angelo Poliziano, may have advised the artist on the mythological program. Two primary interpretations are generally proposed. In one, the relief represents an allegory of time — based on classical texts by Ovid, Claudian, and others — in which each section addresses smaller denominations of time, from the creation of eternity in the first section to that of the day in the last. In the other interpretation, the frieze represents an allegory of the soul, inspired by Plato’s Myth of Er, in which a dead warrior witnesses the treatment of souls of just and unjust persons in the afterlife. In this reading, the frieze illustrates souls choosing between a just and unjust life, the primordial origins of justice and injustice in the gods Jupiter and Saturn, the results of injustice (war) and justice (peaceful production), and punishment and reward. Both interpretations are cyclical allegories that cohere with Lorenzo’s personal motto, Le temps revient (The time comes again), and with the Medici motto, Semper (Always).

Photo: Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi

  • Glazed terracotta frieze depicting various mythical scenes.

    Bertoldo di Giovanni (ca. 1440–1491) and collaborators
    Frieze for the Portico of Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano, ca. 1490
    Glazed terracotta
    (Section 1): 22 7/8 × 105 15/16 in. (58 × 269 cm)
    Villa Medicea di Poggio a Caiano, Polo Museale della Toscana
    Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi

    The enigmatic imagery of putti emerging toward the left and right from the figure with outstretched arms is thought to represent the birth of time and eternity or souls choosing between a just and unjust life. One textual source may be the Roman poet Claudian's writings about the origins of the universe. The ouroboros, a symbol of eternity as a serpent or dragon eating its own tail, encircles the mountainous form punctuated by a cave in which a man grasps serpents, a conventional symbol of evil. At right, a young male figure holds a compass and armillary sphere, representing just life and the logic and order promoted under Medici rule.

  • lazed terracotta frieze depicting a number of figures in ancient dress.

    Bertoldo di Giovanni (ca. 1440–1491) and collaborators
    Frieze for the Portico of Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano, ca. 1490
    Glazed terracotta
    (Section 2): 22 7/8 × 122 7/16 in. (58 × 311 cm)
    Villa Medicea di Poggio a Caiano, Polo Museale della Toscana
    Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi

    Depicting the myth of the infancy of Jupiter or, in astrology, the birth of the age of Jupiter (and thus the age as a measure of time), this section begins at left with Saturn consuming a cloth-covered rock, which he believes to be his newborn son Jupiter. The infant, surreptitiously substituted with the rock by his mother Rhea, feeds on the milk of a goat and the honey of bees, whose hives are depicted at right. Rhea's attendants, the Corybantes, distract Saturn with the noise of their clashing swords. In the reading of the frieze in accordance with the Myth of Er, the section may represent the primordial origins of the just and unjust in the figures of Jupiter and Saturn, respectively. The Corybantes and bees are also related to themes of governance and may refer to the Medici's good governance.

     

  • Glazed terracotta frieze depicting figures in classical armor standing on either side of an ancient temple.

    Bertoldo di Giovanni (ca. 1440–1491) and collaborators
    Frieze for the Portico of Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano, ca. 1490
    Glazed terracotta
    (Section 3): 22 7/8 × 127 9/16 in. (58 × 324 cm)
    Villa Medicea di Poggio a Caiano, Polo Museale della Toscana
    Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi

    This central section of the frieze would have aligned with the main entrance to the villa. Mars emerges from the Temple of Janus, the two-faced god of beginnings, who guards the temple doors and looks into both the future and the past. The section is seen to represent the Birth of the Year and may refer to Lorenzo de' Medici's birth on January 1, 1449 (although in Renaissance Florence the year began on March 25). The soldiers allude to war, as do the presence of Mars, god of war (but also of renewal and spring, the beginning of the agricultural year), and the open doors of the Temple of Janus, which were closed in times of peace. In the reading of the iconography as a depiction of the fate of just and unjust souls, this section is seen to represent the effects of injustice: war.

     

  • Glazed terracotta frieze depicting figures engaged in agricultural activities.

    Bertoldo di Giovanni (ca. 1440–1491) and collaborators
    Frieze for the Portico of Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano, ca. 1490
    Glazed terracotta
    (Section 4): 22 7/8 × 109 1/4 in. (58 × 277.5 cm)
    Villa Medicea di Poggio a Caiano, Polo Museale della Toscana
    Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi

    Representing the Seasons (the figures on the left) and Months (on the right), this section presents figures engaged in agricultural activities appropriate to various times of the year. Interpreted as illustrating the results of justice, this scene of peaceful production may allude to the fruits of the Medici's good governance and, more literally, to their agricultural production in Poggio a Caiano.

     

  • Glazed terracotta frieze depicting two chariots pulled by pairs of horses.

    Bertoldo di Giovanni (ca. 1440–1491) and collaborators
    Frieze for the Portico of Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano, ca. 1490
    Glazed terracotta
    (Section 5): 22 7/8 × 106 1/8 in. (58 × 269.5 cm)
    Villa Medicea di Poggio a Caiano, Polo Museale della Toscana
    Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi

     

    This section has been seen as a representation of the birth of the day in three parts: at left, the slumbering figure of Night; at center, Aurora's preparation of Sol-Apollo's horses for the journey across the sky; and, at right, dawn, the beginning of day. It has also been read as a depiction of the punishment and reward for unjust and just souls, with Sleep and Oblivion attending Death (the reclining figure) at far left, the punishment of the unjust, followed by the apotheosis of just souls in the horse-drawn chariots. In both interpretations, the figures allude to the prosperity and success of the Medici with a possible identification of Lorenzo as Sol-Apollo.

     

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