L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 10 L'Italo-Americano b e t w e e n t w o o f E u r o p e ' s most advanced ancient civi- lizations: the Etruscans and the Greeks of Magna Grae- cia to the south. They coopt- e d t h e E t r u s c a n s ' a n d Greeks' engineering and cul- tural achievements to elevate their social status beyond that of mere agrarians and merchants. Similarly, those wealthy Renaissance families, includ- i n g F l o r e n c e ' s S t r o z z i , Medici, and Rucellai fami- lies, were once mere bankers, merchants, and dye makers. With their newfound wealth, they surrounded themselves with the cultural achieve- m e n t s o f t h e i r G r e e k a n d Roman forebears to heighten their socio-cultural status. Of course, and for the same reasons, the Farnese family also associated its heritage with ancient Rome, as shown in five illustrious frescoed panels depicting a myth from Virgil's Aeneid. But the constructs of myth and heritage, while they lend weight and prestige to the family, give way finally to c o n t e m p o r a r y a n d m o r e practical concerns: power and hegemony. Among the frescoes are those depicting s c e n e s f r o m t h e B i b l e , including full-size portraits of the apostles with St. John the Baptist, the three Marys a t t h e T o m b , a n d S t . Lawrence and St. Stephen. The skill of Renaissance stained-glass artisans is as well represented in sump- tuous stained-glass windows portraying the martyrdom of four apostles. W i t h t h e C h r i s t i a n iconography, the Farnese family left no doubt that it was directly connected to the r e l i g i o u s p o w e r o f t h e Church. Then, there is the vainglorious Room of Far- nese Deeds, frescoed by Zuccari and his assistants. One fresco narrates the Far- nese family's purportedly earliest exploits, from 1100- 1 4 0 0 , i n c l u d i n g F a r n e s e knights in the service of the Church defending Christiani- ty against Muslim encroach- ments in both Europe and the Holy Land. Lest there be any doubt in t h e m i n d s o f t h e F a r n e s e family's visitors, four panels depict Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (1468-1549), who would become Pope in 1534, and two investiture scenes t h a t r e c o u n t t h e f a m i l y ' s direct ties to the Church, t h u s l e g i t i m i z i n g t h e i r dominion over all Christen- dom. For the Renaissance visitor to the palace, at this point awe might have well given way to intimidation. If I felt overwhelmed at this point in our visit, noth- ing we had experienced so far in the palace prepared us for the final space, the Map Room. Upon walking into the center of it, I got that lightheadedness that Stend- hal had experienced more than two centuries ago in Florence. I must call this the Caprarola Syndrome: sur- r o u n d i n g u s i n t h e h u g e r o o m , c o v e r i n g t h e f o u r walls, were gigantic frescoed eight-to-ten-foot maps of the known continents. As I stood there, I had a sense of being diminished suddenly, but not by the Farnese family's power, by the enormity of the Renaissance vision of itself: every space, from the lunettes and dome, to the sashes surrounding the win- dows, is frescoed, thanks to the skillful hand of Giovanni de' Vecchi. In the Map Room, all the f o r e g o i n g n a r r a t i v e s — above all, science — have their cultural, social, and even political expression. It is a room that transcends even the Farnese family's vainglorious, self-promo- tional iconography in the p a l a c e : t h e a g e o f e x p l o - ration was well underway, and the Map Room repre- sents the accomplishments, as well as the unintended consequences, of Renais- sance culture in its dominion over the entire world. The scientific, cultural, and reli- gious power of the ruling elite would soon have devas- tating effects on indigenous cultures everywhere, espe- c i a l l y i n t h e N e w W o r l d . Appropriately, there are por- t r a i t s o f t h o s e m e n w h o made such a Renaissance world view possible: Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Hernando Cortez, and Ferdi- nand Magellan. Not just rough outlines of t h e c o n t e n t s , t h e m a p s depict in precise detail all the known locations: ports, cities, and towns. Remark- a b l y , D e ' V e c c h i a n d h i s aides were able to complete t h e s e s t u n n i n g m a p s because the Farnese family sent for the most renowned m a p m a k e r s i n E u r o p e t o climb the scaffolding and assist the artists in an accu- rate representation of world geography as it was known at the time. This is why, for better or for worse, the Map Room represents the world- mindedness of the Renais- sance imagination, questing for new resources and mar- kets, as well as transplanting European culture around the globe. Faint and all but stagger- ing under the weight of such a spectacle, we headed for the fresh air in the garden a d j a c e n t t o t h e p a l a c e t o r e c o v e r . T h e r e , w e w e r e g r e e t e d w i t h a n o t h e r remarkable icon of Renais- sance culture, that of domin- ion over nature itself. The s c i e n c e o f h o r t i c u l t u r e i s implicit in the garden, as it is in every garden, from the Boboli Garden to the Gar- d e n s o f V e r s a i l l e s . W e l l - trimmed hedges form a well- o r g a n i z e d g r i d o f passageways that lead to a faux grotto, here even nature is domesticated and con - trolled under the authority of wealth, power, and sci- ence. The consequences of such dominion over nature ren- dered the Renaissance mind — a n d , e v e n e a r l i e r , t h e Romans' — insensitive to their effect on nature. It is tragic to see the attempts at contemporary reforestation in the artificial rows of pine trees lining Calabrian hills that were once clear-cut by R o m a n s a n d s u b s e q u e n t generations to build their ships and palaces. So too were forests clear-cut to cre- a t e t h e f o u n d a t i o n s f o r Venice's palaces and cathe- drals in the swampy lagoon. In a recent article pub- lished in the Los Angeles Times, entitled PST Art: Art a n d S c i e n c e C o l l i d e , Christopher Knight wrote that LA galleries have been, m o r e a n d m o r e o f t e n , e x h i b i t i n g c o n t e m p o r a r y works based on social equal- ity and respect for the envi- ronment: a welcome step forward and long-awaited change of mind. However, even if Western culture has changed socially and techno- logically since the sixteenth century, we still have much t o l e a r n a b o u t o u r s e l v e s from that Renaissance vision of the world, including what our modern culture has done with its dominion over peo- ple and nature. Scambray's most recent book is Italian Immigration in the American West: 1870- 1940. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 Palazzo Farnese, a detail of the Room of Farnese deeds by Taddeo Zuccari (Photo: Salvatore Conte/Dreamstime). Bottom left, a portrait of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese by Titian (Image: capodimonte.cultura.gov.it. Original uploaded by: PancoPinco, Wikicommons/Public Domain) Many palaces in Italy and Europe are known for their opulence, but none embodies the Italian Renaissance like Palazzo Farnese HERITAGE HISTORY IDENTITY TRADITIONS

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