Suasa update

Read on to find out about the Roman roots of country life in Le Marche

Preamble:The Anglo-Italian friendship which inspired this post

In summer 2012 the Suasa excavations were, sadly, not open to the public, because the heavy spring rains had caused the (modern protective) roof to fall in over a part of them.  Nevertheless, Prof Lepore kindly showed us round the site, partly because after an interesting lecture on “Archeologia preventiva: il caso dell ager suasanus”, we had made ourselves known to him and his team, as English people  from the nation which pioneered non-digging archaeology, and  sharers of the Suasa team’s admiration for our fellow countryman, Dr J P Williams -Freeman, a Hampshire man, the pioneer of field archaeology and the use of aerial photography in archaeology.

Life in Roman Suasa

Religion

Susa forum (taken by Edward Fennell)

In fact this is just one of the fora which have been discovered in Suasa. It included an area sacra, or sacred area. Here two temples have been discovered, one circular (a monopteros, or circular roofless colonnade), the other rectangular.

Plumbing

Roman Road from the late imperial period (Edward Fennell)

A lead pipe ran beside this road, with smaller pipes running off from it to individual buildings.

Public life

Even in the troubled third century AD, there is still evidence of building in Suasa, including one structure which was possibly a Curia, or seat of local government (cf the Curia or Senate-house in the Roman Forum). The public buildings are large in relation to the size of the town, which suggests that it served the local rural population as well as the urban inhabitants.

Who lived there?

There was a pre-Roman road underneath the late imperial road, which suggests that a settlement existed here before the Romans came. Judging by the pottery finds, Suasa was re-founded as a Latin colony of Roman citizens; however,from Gallic and Picene survivals we may deduce that the previous inhabitants were not totally wiped out.

Last but not least – Country folk

Our local way of life goes back two thousand years. Traces of field-markings in the local area suggest that the country round Suasa was not an area of latifundia or large estates, as on the Tyrrhenian coast, but of small peasant proprietors, as today.

PS It has taken me a long time to write this because I left my notes, from the excellent and kind Prof Lepore’s  conversation,  in Corinaldo, and then I got distracted by Raphael and dear old Mr Santi.

Federigo da Montefeltro, patron of the (Not Terribly Good) artist, Justus of Ghent (Joos van Wassenhove)

Justus of Ghent: Communion of the Apostles. (Wikipedia).

Well, come on, let’s face it, he’s not terribly good, is he? What did Federigo see in him? This is the ruler, the courtyard of whose palace creates a deep feeling of inner peace amid the summer heat and crowds, the ruler who liked Piero della Francesca‘s calm, remote, contemplative, technically skilled paintings with their mastery of perspective, on which Piero was proud to be an expert.

So why go for Justus when there were loads of good painters around? Paolo Uccello painted the predella (The Miracle of the Desecrated Host, actually a bit weird and very unpleasant to modern taste) of the picture above, and Alessandro Sforza of Pesaro commissioned the Pesaro Altarpiece (The Coronation of the Virgin) from Giovanni Bellini in the 1470s. Cardinal Girolamo della Rovere commissioned Melozzo da Forli (whom Giovanni Santi admired) and Luca Signorelli to paint frescoes in the great new church at Loreto, also in the 1470s when Federigo was still alive.

There are various dates for the Communion of the Apostles, but it could certainly have been painted when the above artists were active in the Marches. Even dear old Mr Santi was a lot better than Justus, though that wouldn’t be difficult. Vespasiano da Bisticci, Federigo’s biographer, writes that he chose Justus because he (Justus) knew how to colorire in oils. Really? If you look Justus up on the Web, you will find his Adoration of the Magi (painted before he went to Italy) at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, and this is what they say:” The gouache-like medium [distemper] applied to a relatively porous support [canvas] accounts for the picture’s subdued tonality and matte surface.” In other words, the paint has soaked into the canvas. How could Vespasiano and Federigo think Justus knew how to colorire? This altarpiece was actually commissioned by Federigo for the confraternity of  ”Corpus Domini”. Perhaps he thought it was good enough for them. According to Alison Cole’s Art of the Italian  Renaissance Courts (Weidenfeld, 1995 ), “Santi was asked to find a painter to complete an altarpiece [Uccello had already done the predella] for the … confraternity … in the event, Justus of Ghent painted the main panel …”. Santi had originally invited Piero in the hope that he would paint the main panel. Was Santi a bit desperate, or is Lina right and am I being unfair?

More about Giovanni Santi, the artist Raphael’s father

I can’t resist sharing this quote from Civilisation, by Kenneth Clark, art historian, (rich, leftish, money from Clark’s cotton reels), father of the [more?] famous Alan Clark, politician and diarist, (rich, right-wing, money from Clark’s cotton reels), about Giovanni Santi, artist, father of the more famous artist, Raphael. “The court painter was a silly old creature named Giovanni Santi, the sort of obliging mediocrity who is always welcome in courts, even in the court of Urbino.  No doubt the ladies, when they were in need of a design for embroidery, used to say “Let’s send for dear old Mr Santi” – and when he came he brought with him his beautiful little son, Raffaello. And so Raphael … found his earliest impressions of harmony and proportion and good manners in the court of Urbino. ” (Kenneth Clark: Civilisation  ch.4, p.87. London, Penguin, 1987.) Well, dear old Lord Clark probably knew very well that the silly old creature had brought his son up to be a courtier. Of course Clark knew Vasari’s biography of Raphael and his description of dear old Mr Santi which I quoted last time. He probably had seen Raphael’s draft of a poem in his elegant italic hand many a time in the British Museum (Cat 84 in the National Gallery exhibition), and knew that Raphael was a friend of intellectuals at the court of Urbino  such as Baldassare Castiglione,

Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, ca. 1515. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

author of the Courtier, whose portrait he painted, and the humanist Pietro Bembo. So he tried to express this in a “popular” way.

The more you write about someone, the more fond you get of them, so I thought I would list some of  the places in Le Marche and elsewhere where you can see dear old Mr Santi’s work.

Cagli, San Domenico, Tiranni Chapel.

Sacra Conversazione with the Resurrection of Christ.

Fano, Sta Maria Nuova

Visitation

Florence, Galleria Corsini

The Muse Clio

London, National Gallery (not on show)

The Virgin and Child

Royal Collection (probably not on show)

Drawing for The Muse Clio, “A woman standing before rocks”.

Montefiorentino; Convent

Madonna enthroned with Saints.

Urbino, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche

The Dead Christ supported by Two Angels ( and many other paintings). This particular painting is supposed to have been placed on the edge of the pulpit in San Bernadino degli Zoccolanti, the Montefeltro mausoleum. (Raphael from Urbino to Rome: London; National Gallery, 2004, cat 5, p76.)

Raphael was not Perugino’s pupil

Giovanni Santi, Raphael‘s father,  was not a bad artist himself – see June Osborne’s book, which I referred to in my post before this. Although Giorgio Vasari in his “Lives of the Artists”described Santi as a “pittore non molto eccellente” – (not a very distinguished painter), he added “uomo di buono ingegno e e atto a indirizzare i figliuoli per quella buona via” (a man of good intelligence and capable of directing his sons along that good path).  The curators of the exhibition, “Raphael and Urbino” at the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche in the Palazzo Ducale in 2009, think that Raphael learnt his trade from his father and not from Perugino. They say  there is no evidence other than Vasari’s statement, in The Lives of the Artists, that Raphael studied under Perugino. Santi was quite the Renaissance man, being a poet as well as a painter. He wrote an epic poem in terza rima (same rhyme scheme as Dante’s Divina Commedia or Divine Comedy) in honour of his patron Guidobaldo’s father, “La Vita e Le Gesta di Federico di Montefeltro” (1482 -7) and, again according to the Urbino curators, was steeped in Renaissance culture.

Having read the introductory chapter to the catalogue of the (English) National Gallery’s  art exhibition, “Raphael from Urbino to Rome”,(London; National Gallery, 2004)  I can now offer a more nuanced account. Although it is unlikely that Raphael was ever apprenticed to the artist Perugino  or was his pupil, as Vasari tells the story, he probably did work with Perugino from about 1502-3. According to the helpful timeline in the exhibition catalogue, he (R) was documented as being in Perugia in 1503.

In fact, Raphael probably became familiar with Perugino’s work via his father Giovanni Santi, who knew and admired it, describing Perugino as a “divin pictore”  in his epic poem.   The two artists may have got to know each other in Fano c1488, when they were both working for the church of S Maria Nuova. Perugino was painting  an “Annunciation” ( the Angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will become the mother of Jesus, from the Gospel of Luke ch 2. vv 26-38), and a “Virgin Enthroned with Saints“or “Sacra Conversazione”, (commissioned in 1488 and dated 1497),

Perugino’s Annunciation in the church of S Maria Nuova in Fano. Photo credit: Wikipedia.

while Giovanni was painting a “Visitation” (the Virgin Mary’s visit after the Annunciation to her cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with the future John the Baptist,  from the Gospel of Luke ch 1 vv 39-56)

Giovanni Santi’s Visitation in the church of Santa Maria Nuova, Fano.

Perugino’s Madonna Enthroned with Saints in the church of S Maria Nuova in Fano. Photo credit: Wikipedia.

Urbino – not the Ducal Palace

If one day you just can’t face yet another pre-Renaissance holy picture, give the Ducal Palace (Galleria Nazionale delle Marche) a miss (I’m assuming you’ve seen the Pieros and the Raphael and the Studiolo and the Justus of Ghent/Pedro Berruguete portrait of Duke Federigo and his son), stroll round town

Uphill Urbino – wear sensible footwear!Photo by Edward Fennell.

A glimpse of Urbino’s ducal palace between two houses. Photo by Edward Fennell.

Urbino rooftops and the Ducal Palace. Photo by Edward Fennell.

and have a look at the other sights.

While researching this section I came across, or rather, really read properly, a book we’ve had for years: Urbino, the story of a Renaissance City, by June Osborne: Frances Lincoln, 2003. (University of Chicago Press in the USA.) It is a good guide, beautifully illustrated by Joe Cornish’s photographs,  to the art and history of Urbino under Federigo and Guidobaldo, but hasn’t got a  map of the modern city and its surroundings. Anyway, I have borrowed a lot from JO and acknowledge my debt here.

You walk through the Porta Valbona,

Urbino: Porta Valbona (Photo credit: netNicholls)

up a steep hill, the Via Mazzini, from the car park in Piazza Mercatale, formerly the site of the cattle market, and arrive in the Piazza della Repubblica. As you go up the Via Mazzini look out for a little alimentare, or grocery, on the left, where they sell good ready made pasta sauce al cinghiale, (wild boar), De Cecco pasta,(the best) and will advise you on what pasta to serve with what sauce. They also usually sell the traditional Urbino  cheese, casciotta, but they didn’t have any the day I was there.

Piazza della Repubblica showing the church of S Francesco and part of the Collegio Raffaello

Just ahead of you and to your right is the eighteenth-century  Palazzo del Collegio Raffaell0, part of which is now a caffè, as you can tell from the word Caffè written in huge metal letters across the centre front of the facade. It’s a nice place to sit and watch the world go by but the staff are charmless. Penetrate into the cortile and you will find yourself in another world. The cortile has been recently beautifully restored, as only the Italians know how, and is now the home of  Le Botteghe del Montefeltro , shops selling local produce. They also offer light meals and the one on the left (with your back to the Caffè) is a nice place to have lunch in spring and summer. We had a good tagliere (chopping board: Marchegiano equivalent of a platter) of salumi (cold meats)and some sweet  raw fave, or broad beans, a traditional Italian, or Marchegiano, spring delicacy. In autumn the other shop does half-heartedly offer a tagliere,  but it’s not as nicely presented. There is also an excellent Feltrinelli bookshop.

Just next door to the Collegio, on the other side of the Via Battisti, is the Franciscan church of San Francesco (obviously) with its delightful C14 portico and campanile (bell-tower). The painter Raffaello/ Raphael’s (1483-1520) father, Giovanni Santi (early 1440s-1494), is buried here.

More to follow on San Francesco, the Museo della Città and the two Oratori.

And here it is. Quite the strangest and most interesting part of S Francesco is the small brick-lined chapel to the memory of Urbino’s war dead. In it have been collocated, apparently at random (oops, did I say dumped!):-a mid ’400 German 3-person Pietà; a 16th century crucifix, and two arches of carved stone, all presumably rescued from the eighteenth century reconstruction  of the church.

Were you to carry on up the steep hill you would come to Raphael’s birthplace, which do not despise just because it hasn’t got any paintings by the master.As June Osborne says, it is quite moving to see the stone where the young Raphael perhaps used to grind paints for his father. There is also a delightful Madonna and Child, attributed sometimes to the young Raphael and sometimes to his father.

Madonna and Child with a Book in Raphael’s house in Urbino

However, we are not going to visit the house today. Instead, we are going to carry on up the hill along the Via Vittorio Veneto, and turn left, along Via Valerio, to the Museo della Città, in the Palazzo Bonaventura Odasi. I admit it is a long time since I visited it, because its opening hours are not convenient (weekday mornings only except Tuesdays – closed, and all day at weekends) – see my earlier post under “Useful info: opening hours” and my post on Jesi . Again, like the Collegio Raffaell0, the palazzo has been beautifully restored and the museum is attractively presented.

Retrace your steps to the Piazza della Repubblica and turn right off Via Mazzini  and then left. Downhill on your right you will find the Oratorio di San Giuseppe, and a bit farther on the Oratorio di San Giovanni.

(More to follow)

The sad side of Urbino

Autumn, however mild and bright, can be a melancholy season here in Le Marche, especially in an ex-casa colonica (farmhouse) like ours, with small windows and thick walls. How much more so in Urbino, high up, inland and chilly as it is – and prone to rain. I remember the Festa del Duca in the middle of summer and how it rained.
These reflections were prompted by a visit to the church of San Bernadino degli Zoccolanti, commissioned by Duke Federigo of Urbino as his family mausoleum. He is buried there,

Memorial to Duke Federigo di Montefeltro

as is his son Guidobaldo and Guidobaldo’s wife, Elisabetta Gonzaga.

Memorial to Duke Guidobaldo di Montefeltro and Duchess Elisabetta

And that’s it – the end of the line. Guidobaldo’s nephew Francesco Maria della Rovere inherited the duchy in 1508 when Guidobaldo died childless. (See the Blue Guide to The Marche and San Marino for an excellent, clear account of the Montefeltro/della Rovere line.)
The church itself is a simple and beautiful brick building about 2 km from Urbino in a peaceful rural setting.

Montefeltro mausoleum or San Bernadino degli Zoccolanti exterior

It is thought to have been designed, at the end of the C15, by my good friend Francesco di Giorgio Martini, architect to the Montefeltro family and a busy bee if ever there was one. He created San Leo, the Rocca of Mondavio and the fortifications of Cagli, of which only the Torrioneremains, to name but a few. The interior of the church is simple renaissance white and grey, perfectly proportioned but a bit woebegone with crumbling plaster, cracked marble and inappropriate but much-loved plaster figurines.

Montefeltro mausoleum or San Bernadino interior looking east

The saddest item in the church is the faded colour photograph of the Pala di San Bernadino

Piero della Francesca: Pala Brera or Madonna and Child with Saints. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

by Piero della Francesca, which Napoleon took from here to the Brera gallery in Milan. He had a grand plan to make the Brera a national gallery and move pictures there from the rest of Italy. So zealous were his lieutenants that there was no room for all the pictures in the Brera, and they had to be stored in nearby parish churches.Anyway, they did find room for the Piero, and it’s still there. Napoleon also stole lots of books and manuscripts from Italian libraries and took them to France. The French were forced to give some of them back, but some are still in the Bibliotheque Nationale. By the way, Napoleon and Hitler both ordered copies of the Bodleian library catalogue, and of the other British deposit libraries too, no doubt. I wonder why?

Similarly, the Madonna di Senigallia,

Madonna di Senigallia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

from Santa Maria delle Grazie near Senigallia, is now in the Ducal Palace (Galleria Nazionale delle Marche) in Urbino.It was moved for safe-keeping during the war, and never found its way back.

I actually felt a much deeper sense of holiness in San Bernadino than in many better-kept churches, such as San Domenico in Urbino itself. Perhaps this is because it is next door to the cemetery and many bereaved people have prayed for their loved ones here.
The convent of the Franciscan Frati Minori appears to be uninhabited, and the place is being kept up by the comune of Urbino.
To get there from Urbino you can walk, if it isn’t pouring with rain as it was when we were there, or take the car. If you are parked in the big car park in Borgo Mercatale, leave it and follow the signs to Roma. At the first roundabout follow the sign to Roma; at the second roundabout look out for a teeny turn-off signed to Torre San Tomaso, with a small brown tourist sign to the Mausoleo. Follow the signs to the Mausoleo along a pleasant tree-lined country road. The entrance to the site is clearly signed; it is also the entrance to the cemetery; you go right and park under the walls of the convent. The church seems to be open all day.

Related articles

• Out of Marche! Gubbio, former part of Montefeltro (marcheatopictour.wordpress.com)
• Mondavio: who won here in 1462, the Malatesta or the Montefeltro? The Vatican! (marcheatopictour.wordpress.com)

Suasa

Suasa has a story to tell – a story of conquest and dispossession, of the rise and fall of a civilisation, and of people living out their daily lives – working, playing and worshipping for hundreds of years, unaware that one day their civilisation would decline and collapse and their descendants would abandon Suasa and take to the hills. The town was founded by Rome between 232 and 220 BC. Roman settlers moved in and divided up the land which had lain fallow and neglected for 50 years, since the battle in 283 BC when Cornelius Dolabella defeated its former inhabitants, the once-proud Galli Senones (Senonian Gauls), conquerors of the Eternal City itself,. Or was the land empty? Were the defeated and scattered Gauls still living there, just trying to keep their heads down? Before the Gauls moved in and conquered the region between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, the Picentes had lived there, as their Iron Age burials, revealed by archaeology, bear witness. Again, did the Gauls drive out the Picentes or did they just continue to live there as a subject people? After all, the Normans didn’t drive out the Anglo-Saxons from England after the Conquest.
Where is Suasa? It’s in the valley of the River Cesano, situated east of the river and just to the north of modern Castelleone di Suasa at Pian di Volpello. You can see on the map that Suasa is called Suasa Senonum, after the Galli Senones, from whom Senigallia, Sena Gallica, also takes its name.

The Roman Road network around Suasa. Thanks to Progetto Suasa – 2008 for this image.

Suasa Roman Road

Giuseppe Lepore, site director, kindly showing your blogger round the Suasa archaeological site

[More detailed stuff for historians, classicists and anyone who’s interested.

Suasa was founded following the Lex Flaminia of 232 BC, which allowed the Ager Gallicus, the former Gallic lands along the Adriatic coast,  to be divided up among landless Roman citizens.

Suasa’s date and location need to be understood both in the context of the river valley and the road network of ancient Rome.

The River Cesano flows north eastward from its source at Monte Catria to the Adriatic between Marotta and Senigallia.

The Via Flaminia was opened in 220 BC.  Its offshoot, the main road along the valley, (Strada Statale 424, the Pergolese) ran west of the river in Roman times, as it still does today, from Cagli(Ad Calem) towards modern Marotta.  Therefore Suasa’s foundation can be dated between 232 and 220 BC.  Had it been founded later than 220 BC, it would have been situated on the other side, the west side, of the river.]

Suasa amphitheatre (Wikipedia)

Suasa excavations – remains of shops around the forum