This is a translation of "Anni 1480 Trionfi a Firenze e Pistoia," which Franco posted at https://www.naibi.net/A/UBERTINO.pdf on July 24, 2024. Comments in square brackets are mine, in consultation with Franco, for clarification purposes.
1480s - Triumphs in Florence and Pistoia
Franco Pratesi
1. Introduction
I thought I had finished my research on the Magistracy of Minors prior
to the Principality collection in the State Archives of Florence (ASFi)
[Magistrato dei Pupilli avanti il Principato nell’Archivio di Stato di
Firenze], but instead I . . . returned to the scene of the crime. In the
specific sector of playing cards, it is understandable that the further
we move forward in time, the more unlikely it is to find evidence of
notable historical interest; however, I thought that other information
could be found to complete the picture, even towards the end of the
fifteenth century.
In this note I report on what was found in the following manuscript of
the Campione series of inventories and revised accounts: No. 177 Quarters
of Santa Maria Novella and San Giovanni, 1479-1484, 319 ff. (it is part
of the 13th sample).
2. The Triumphs of a broker
In the volume examined we encounter a deck of triumphs in a much more modest than average environment, in the inheritance of a sensale [broker, but at that time mostly in agriculture and livestock]. The sensale
in question is Tomaso di Toto, not otherwise known (at least to me).
This is one of the smallest inheritances, left to his son Antonio, aged
around nine, with an inventory recorded on 30 January 1483 starting from
f. 259r.
The household goods are listed on a single card and a very small
quantity of the usual linen and clothing fabrics appears. Unlike usual, a
family home does not appear but these household goods are kept in the
house and home of Agnolo di Rinieri del Pacie and were placed and
designated in said house by command and order of the eight of the
bailiffs of the city of Florence after motion [or request: istanza] by creditors and passed under the care and custody of our office of minors and their judgment.
I copy and transcribe the part of interest.
ASFi, Magistracy of Minors prior to the Principality, 177, f. 259v. Detail (Reproduction prohibited)
2Despite the modesty of the whole, some objects can be noted that indicate a certain refinement, which makes the presence of a deck of triumphs not too extraordinary, although rather unexpected in such an environment.1 small basket from/of Prato
1 crucifix as a shrine set in gold
2 cargo boxes
1 bolted table
4 pairs of molds for casting
2 skin shaving knives
1 merchandise case inside
1 lute to play
1 wooden bed with its cases around
1 raw bed mattress [just two sheets sewn together and filled with wool or other material]
1 our lady picture, round [tondo]
1 brass oil lamp
1 brass bucket
1 Saint Jerome and 1 majolica jar
1 towel around our lady
1 child’s bed and hat rack
2 leather pillows
1 small mattress and 3 bed pillows
1 Moorish-style carpet
2 chests 1 empty and 1 with inside various books and contracts
1 lantern
1 cup of tin and 1 of brass
1 pair of triumphs [paio di trionfi]
1 bunch of white wax candles of 4 lb.
1 Messer Domenecho [?]
1 French-style canvas cloth with figures
1 pictured linen piece of villa are villa things and for feet [?]
1 bench for the table and 1 small saw
1 tub and 2 chandeliers
1 large chair and 3 small chairs
2 chandeliers with 2 brass oil lamps
But perhaps a deck of triumphs could also have proved useful during some country negotiations: between hesitant sellers and buyers, why wouldn’t the mediator have been able to propose a relaxing game of triumphs and then seal the sale or exchange pact of livestock with an always welcome jug of good wine? Obviously, even just to imagine such a scene one must have been vaccinated against the various triumphologies, always alive and well, both around the ducal courts and among the professors of divinatory sciences.
It is not clear what condition that deck of triumphs was in, but it can be considered as one of the few things present beyond the bare minimum, which is enough to indicate to us that that deck could no longer be an object of value, even assuming a significant - but unlikely - value when new.
3. Commentaries on the Triumphs of Ubertino from Pistoia
In the same inventory book, starting from c. 296r, we find another of some interest, which occupies six pages written in two columns. The inheritance is that of Ubertino di ser Atto di Giovanni Gherardi in Pistoia, for his children Lucrezia aged 17, Giovanni aged 12, and Giuliano aged 9, with guardianship by the magistracy of minors accepted on 15 December 1484. The family is one of the most noted of Pistoia, the
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heirs' grandfather was a man of the law, a notary at least. The house, also judging by the above-average quality and quantity of household goods, is decidedly elegant; after the list of household goods, the real estate consisting of the house, two shops, and several farms and vineyards are listed.
I limit myself to copying and transcribing the part of specific interest.
In Ubertino’s study
…
1 Vergil In vernacular In form wooden board covered with green-purple leather
1 Juvenal In form wooden board covered with purple leather
1* the third decade [the work was divided into ten books] by Titus Livy in vernacular with wooden board covered with green leather with arms of Gerardi with cholonegli [perhaps colonnelli, small columns in the arms]
1 book In quarto folio paper with wooden board covered with white leather, in the vernacular of the creation of the world
1 book In vernacular on the Immortality of the soul, in form wooden board covered with yellow leather with four buckles
1 book upon triumphs of pretarcha, wooden board covered with green leather with 2 buckles in form [libro sopra trionfi del pretarcha cho asse chovertato di quoio verde chon 2 serrami in forma]
1 The same in form wooden board covered with purple leather
1 clock
1 ceramic inkwell with a silver seal to the sign of Partini [family arms?]
1 pair of large scissors
1 pound weight with a small box of worked cypress
1 purple leather money-bag
1 studded case with batachi [knockers?] said things
3 wooden bowls for keeping money [danali = danari]
2 grosoni of Milan of S. 26 d. 8 the one
2 papal carlini [unit of money]
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This was a more surprising discovery for me than usual; indeed, it can be said to be surprising for at least three reasons. A first surprise was to find Petrarch's Trionfi in an out-of-the-ordinary place: we are in Pistoia and not in a palace in the center of Florence. The second surprise was even greater: we are not simply talking about the Trionfi but about a book "upon" them. I wondered if it could be a printed book or manuscript and taking into account how it had been bound, I was convinced that it was a manuscript containing both the Trionfi and the added commentary. I just thought that to be listed like this, the commentary had to be something more than short notes on the side or bottom of the page. Then I realized that it was an incunabulum already known to scholars.1 royal carlino
4 old grossi
1 grosetto of Bologna
1 cuirass [choraza]
A third, subsequent surprise is that the name of this completely unknown to me Ubertino was in reality easily traceable with Google Books: by clicking on his name, with patronymic and location, perhaps a dozen studies appear which, coincidentally, are based precisely on the inventory I've been looking at lately. It seems that scholars have found great interest in his books, and in more than one direction, too.
One strand concerns children's literature: a children's book is also indicated in the inventory, and comments on this presence are today repeated by many pedagogical experts, from one book to another. Another trend concerns incunabula and the history of printing, and this book with a commentary on the Trionfi seems to have been recognized as having a certain interest also for bibliology. For now, I have not seen any authors specifically interested in this commentary on the Triumphs in the context of Petrarchan studies.
The foregoing was a great relief for my laziness: now I have no need to talk about this Ubertino, nor about the importance of these books of his. Those interested simply need to make the best use of the indications of Google Books, and perhaps other digital assistants, in order to collect information in the individual sector of their interest.
Florence, 07.24.2024
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