“Bernini’s Bumbling Barberini Bees”

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1 Bernini, Tomb ofUrban VI II. Rome,

St. Peter's (J,lwlo:Anderson 215)

51Irving avinBERNINI'S BUMBLINC BARBERINI BEES

Misericors Dominus, etjustus, et Deus noster miseretur .(Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;yea, our God is merciful, Ps. 116:5)*

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2 Giovanni Bagliont, Allegory of

ChariJ.yandJuRict. London,Homplon COllri

This paper is partly in the nature of an extended, and I hope expansive, footnote to an extraordinarily important and strangely negleCledeJsay on Bernini's tomb of Urhan VIII published in 1971 by Catherine Wilkinson (fIg. r).1

Her brief article focused ~ecifically on theiconography of the figures of Charity andJustice, but Wilkinson's interpretation has important implications for our underStanding ofBernini's art generally. She demonstrated, ineffeCl, that the two figures do not represent, ashad always been taken for granted, thetradll:ional moral allegories of Charity andJustice, thus illustrat.ing the relatively simpl'e,not to say superficial, and often sycophanticcharacter of Bernini's art as it was commonlyconceived. Taking up the doClrinal formulations of the Council ofTrent and as well as other supporting texts, Wilkinson made it clear thatBernini's figures are intel1eClually sophisticated, indeed profound evocations, not of the

moral virtues, but of the divine virtues ofCharll:y andJustice. 2 The virtues are thereforenot qualities of Urban VIII personally, butattributes of his of-nce as the Vicar of Christ onearth. Interestingly, Wilkinson overlooked whatis perhaps the most Striking testimony to her interpretation: a painting by Baglione in whichDivine Wisdom, crowned by the dove of theHoly Spirit, reaches down from heaven Wl1hgolden chains to link to herself and to each other her earthly representatives, Charil:y andJustice (fig. 3).3 Bernin i' s allegories thereforecannot be understood as mourners for the departed pope. Among the least valuable implications ofWi1kinson's work, for example, is that II:obviated the embarraf.~ing need to construeCharily's maternal benevolence as an expref.~ionofgriefCfig. 3)!4.

The inll:ial key to the significance of the allegories is that Bernini did not accompany thepope by the cardinal moral virtues normally

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52afsociated with the earthly ruler, whose 10Js theyproperly mourn. Instead, he combined one ofthe cardinal virtues, justice, with the chief theological virtue, Charity. This combination wascommon enough, but in the context of papalportraiture il: specifically denoted the role of thepapacy in the execution of God's wish that manbe justified, that is, made juSt, and so redeemedfrom original sin. God achieves this resultthrough the sacrifice ofhis only son, and the exercise of the chief attributes of his pel'fechon,the divine virtues of Charily and justice. Thetwo virtues are ellual and interdependent, theone operating through the other in the intereStofmankind. The allegories, therefore, far fromlamenting the pope's demise, illush-ate the rolesof God's virtues in achieving the benencent result implicil: in the pope's salvinc geSture. 5

In the case of Charity Bernini makes hispoint by creating a binary complementarymoral and psychological contrasl- «contrapposto,» Bernini would have called it - betweenthe extremes of the soul's route to salvation.6

One child (fig. 3), having absorbed the milk ofGod's forgiving goodnefs sleeps bliJsfully untilthe end of time. The other soul (ng. 4) bawls atthe top of his lungs: he is the repentant sinnerreaching desperately for redemption, so utterlyconsumed by recrimination as to be unaware of

Irving Lavin

Charily's compaJsionate reSJ:)()nse to his excruciating jeremiad. Wilkinson cites a remarkablyclose precedent for Bernini's concept in apainting by Lanhanco illuStrating the action ofthe Virgin interceding wil:h her son to save a repentant soul (ftg. 6).7 To a degree, the composil:ion, and perhaps also the concept, seems toecho the figure of Charity Bernini's father,Pietro, had carved years before in Naples(ftg. 7).8 The point of the subjecl, however, isexplicilly represented in a painting by Guercino, famous in its day, as evidenced by an engraving in which the accompanying inscri]::>tiontreats the subjeCt of Charity as a memento mori reminding the viewer that his own redemption isin direCt proportion to his partici]::>ation inGod's love (fig. 8).9

Charil:y is a vigorously dynamic and earthlyfigure who contacts the papal tomb primarily byreSting her sleeping charge against the sarcophagus-an image that insiStently recalls thethemes of the Pieta and entombment. of Christ,whose sacrince was the prototype of all acts ofcharily. 10 In sharp contraSt, the paJsive ngure ofjustice Stands, or more accurately leans againStthe tomb, in a pose that redolent oflanguor andpafsivily (ng. 9). Whereas Charil:y has fewer accouterments than usual (two babies rather thanthree), Justice has more: the book, and fasces in

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Bernini's Bumbling Barberini Bees 53

il Giovanni Lonfronco, So/vatioll oj() Soul. Nt/pies. Galleria Nuzionafe

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7 Pietro Bernini. CJwri!y. NtJplrs,Monledi Pieh, (SACN,Ij&w)

in a painting of Justice attributed to BattistaDoJ5i (fig. 10).

The second observation I want to make aboutJustice concerns the weapon she holds. Theparticular sting of Urban's justice, which we willdiscuJ5 presently, is felt in the magnificentcolony of bees that decorates the pommel (fig.II). Valeriano in his Hieroglyphics explains thedouble··edged sword as alluding to the twoa41e(~tS of punishment, corporeal and spiritual. 16 In t.his case the point is made with a particular embellishment in the form of damascening that decorates the two faces of the bladein mirror images (fig. 12). The design is evidently indecipherable as words, but I suspect itmay allude to Islam and t.he conversion of theinfl.del. 17 This ideal of Christian jwftice, whichincluded publication of the bible inArabic, wasa guiding principle of the Propaganda Fide, thegreat mifsionary institution that was one of themajor preoccupations of Urban's reign. 18

My third point concerns the most commonly misunderstood feature of the allegory, that is,what might be called her mood, her head restingon her hand, her head and eyes turned upward,her lips parted as if in reSponse to some mefsagereceived from on high. In truth, there is nothing tearful or morbid about her exprefsion,

addition to the canonical sword and balance.The attributes obviously relate to the quinteJ.~ential forms of justice: legal, commutativeand distributive, derived ultimately fromAristotle, developed by the scholastics, and formulated defmitively at the Council of Trent. II

Three points concern us here. The croJ.~legpose

of the fIgure and the inclusion of the fasces havea common theme with respeCl: to the sword andbalance, which evoke the impartial and retributive nat.ure of justice. 12 Crofsed legs were a[Tequent attribut.e of fl.gures representative ofunhurried meditat.ion and contemplation, andin this case the mot.if expreJ.~esone of the funda··mental attributes of God's justice, that it is slowand deliberate. 11Vincenzo Cart.ari cxplains thefaCl: that Saturn was often represent.ed with hisfeet tied together as indicating that «DivineGoodnefs does not run quickly or noisily tocastigate error, but belatedly and slowly, so thatthc sinner is unaware before he feds thepain.» II Under the heading precisely of DivineJustice Cesare Ripa describes the fasces W11h theax, carried by the lictors before the consuls andthe Tribune of the People, as signifying that inthe execution of justice overzealous castigationis unwarranted, and that.justice should never beprecipitous but have time to mature judgmentwhile unbinding the rods that cover the ax. '5

The croJ.~legpose and the fasces occur together

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54which is rather one of dreamy absorption tingedwith a kind of melancholic lethargy. The veryfad that her elbow rests on the bookoflaw-Urban was firSt and foremost a jurist and his risewithin the church hierarchy rested on that basis-indicates that her action has to do withjustice,not mourning. 19 To be sure, all writers emphasize that divine chastisement is inflicted only re··luclantly, and with dismay, 20 and hints of fear

someneJs and withdrawal are expreJsed by theputti, one of whom hides anxiously with thescales, while the other turns away with the fasces(Figs. 13, 14). The allegory herself, however, hasa quite different attitude. The head-on-handmotif is one of the most consistent postures ofthe thinker, the contemplator, the meditator,and the turn of her head and glance makes itclear, not only that she is slow to act but that whatshe contemplates is the heavenly source of divine justice. Bernini seems to have based thisaspect of his figure on just such a prototype,Domenichino's equally dilatory allegory ofPrudence at San Carlo ai Catinari (fig. 16). Ripaemphasizes that the eyes of Divine Justice mustregard the things of this world as beneath her,keeping her attention always fixed on the pureand the true. 21

Irving Lavin

The two groups together thus offer averitable concert of psychological and moralslates, ,the allegories themselves acting in acount~rpoint perhaps deliberately analogous tothe saintly figures in the croJsing piers beneaththe dome, Veronica, .Andrew, Longinus andHelen U;g. IS); carried out under Bernini's supervision during the same period as Urban'stomb, they represent the principal paJsion relicspoJseJsed by the basilica. The two female saintsone active, one paJsive-are earthbound andoutward directed, while t.he two men (oneactive, one paJsive) appear upward directed andinspired from heaven. ~2

This theme, that is, the divine origin andearthward diSJ:)ensation of God's grace in theform of Charity and Justice, carries deep intot.he mot.ivat.ion and ultimate signif;cance of themonument, which is in fael. the first papal tombincorporating these two virtues together and inisolation. Rarely, they appeared together independently, as in the painting by Baglione. Theywere commonly included in cycles of thevirtues, and in Domenichino's series at SanCarlo, the attributes ofJuslice include both thesword and the fasces (fIg. 17).23 Most importantly, there was a certain tradition for pairingthe allegories in relation to papal portraits,since from the Middle Ages on these virt.uesplayed fundamental roles in the theoretical dis-

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Bernini's Bumbling Barberini Bees

cuJsions of the extent and limitations of papalrule-the so-called «pleniludo potestatis.» 24·This last context was clearly a factor in Bernini'sconception. One direct source was the image ofPope Urban I flanked by]ustice and Charity inthe series ofgrandiose papal portrails by GiulioRomano in the Sala di Costantino, which document the awesome continuity of the church ofRome since its establishment by the firstChristian emperor (fIg. 18).25 This onomasticreference may reflect three reasons contemporary sources report for Urban's choice of hisname: because of his affection for the city; because he wished to emulate the great achievements of his namesakes; and because, realizingthat he tended to be rather rigid «<alquanto ...rigidetto» ) by nature, the name would be a continuous reminder to be temperate. 2

(, On the«urbanity» of the pope's rule we shall havemore to say presently. Underlying the first two

55motivations may be a particular understandingof the role played by the image of Urban I in theSala di Costantino cycle: as the firSt pope toidentifj himself b1erally wilh the capilol of theempire, he would have been the embodimentpar excellence of the virtues afsociated with thechurch's dominion. 2 7The allusion is no doubtalso to Urban II, promoter of the first crusade,who is mentioned specifically in another sourceand may have been a model for Urban VIII'szealous support for foreign mifsions and thePropaganda Fide. 28 Interestingly, the same allegories reappear in the frame of a engravedportrail of Urban VII, by Cherubino Alberti(fig. 19). 29The point is that this combination ofvirtues, while perhaps appropriate to a specificindividual, was also emblematic of the vicariousrole ofall the succefsors ofPeter as magistrates ofthe church.

The sense of continuily is expreJsed in thebasic conception of the tomb, which is a kind ofepilome of the two papal monuments previously erected in new St. Peter's, those of Paul ITl(figs. 20) and GregoryXlIT (fig. 21).3 0 Theparallel and continuily between them is established by the use of corresponding materials,and by the echoing pyramidal composition ofthe bronze figure of the pope seated on apedestal, before and beside which are placedwhile marble pairs of allegories. The leVl1atinggesture ofUrbanVI I I, moreover, which repeatsthat of St. Peter himself in the Sala di Coslantino (fig. 22), seems deliberately to intermediatebetween the palm-down pacification ofPaul IIIand the triumphal exclamation of GregoryXIII. 31 Bernini's allegories leaning against thesarcophagus seem also to link the reclining andisolated standing figures on the two earliermonuments, while relating the tomb to its psychological and spatial environment in a newway. These papal monuments have a close parallel in an engraved polilical allegory that isrooted in the Petrarchan tradilion of allegoricaltriumphs, and that in turn anticipates many ofthe features ofBernini' s conception. The composilion was designed by Joseph Heintz, courtpainter to the emperor Rudolph II, andengraved by Lucas Kilian in Venice in 1603, tocelebrate the appointment of Heintz's brotherDaniel as archHect ofthe city ofBern (fig. 23).32

Seated atop a two-stepped structure the triumphant fIgure of]ustice brandishes her swordand holds her scales aloft, looking heavenward.She is flanked below by standing figures ofTruth

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n'moll jilrlht 1IIr1115//H1 oIUrbcln Iin II11'SI/I11 el, ('o(ltW'l/lo \"irsor

for nil of5O(JUfj(ln If ,Ii tlit ll,,'futS oj

}lJUlft llChon1,

28 p,- "'927 51. .\.n'If/.21). n, 1. rting,¥rgn Iq22.174

29 Crll'd b, h-/luffinnnn '970.110; /juffa. td., lq8~, ()qt>. J27/ fI, ThtJOm,,[romt

mltdfor a suits ofJKlrtrait~.

InillJf/lll1:(;rq;oryJ/.r"oXI andPaul \'. 'h, faltn fU'/l 11~"d ~)'

4/rlflllllrr Marr (.{rmmrr 1988,

31:!. Vo. F,2. ;:.i//ma 19j1J,

14.2[. 7I,ns. i'!, "2'

30 nl'~t !J'('rr ,Ii, onl1 /m/IO! /I'm/JI

t.'rrtltll JII/ll'W SI. I'I'I,r\ IltIOCtUrlwn \'/ II 'j (80':golft 198q.

30S>' far IJllrlieulllr (In thr lomh

,{Pou' III \,~ Gcambtrg lq84.On th, 1I":!:lnul lomlJlJ/GrT(Dt'J

XIII, a 'lie}, «'OJ r,plactd in tht

tl{llt'Wt/l ftnlilry. h~r lq861JJr fllncl{/mrnto/ </udr aflht duoralion 01 nr/fISt. fr/l'r'j /lrJon thtadllil/(ln (If/lit nal'll/lII/l'r Paul \. II

that la, «;,rbtllhiin,r 19(iz, Ontht

rtlalt(lllJ brht.'fItn lilt ihm lombs

"PIl/'t Iltnnl'[fJ Iq;o. Jl4f..

lwuImalltl 19;0. 110. IJ.j, 11C).

128; Srh,il ,I' Jqq,. 217. ':!6o.Z6,t/-. ';!(i6,

31 11Jrrr/rt/ioIl\J"J' III St. Pdtr III

Sala eli (;os,an/ill/llNn n(llta b,

Kat unn 1'}70. 1'12 On PaulIII tit In "ttn di I 'fl(Olort. ft'

1Ju)t'ntJ I qqn. 1.'1

3217" rt{alwnJupflJth, ({roon

\'111 lomb III tilt tngrallng /lIOS

oh\tr1 trd ami d/\n~Frtl /lr lorfion

1971; I'f /lfm Pmg Iq88. ,P5f.No. '10'2. ZUllml'r Iq88. q6J.No.AilJ

II Bernini. JombofUrban VII/,delail. Rome, 51. Peter's (photo:ARFSP)I'.? Bernini, JombofUrbu/I VIII,l/etail. Roml'. Sf. Peter's Q)hoto:ARFSP)

l.j Bemilli, TurnbofUrban VHI,l/etail. Rome, Sf. Peter's (jJ/lOla:

Saskia 8001 !vi 0'1)

J.[ Bernini, TombofUrbcm VIII,dclail. Rome, St. Peter's (1JllOlo;l.ehI7Hlllfl-Brockhuus)

Irving Lavin

Bernini's Bumbling Barberini Bl!es 57

1.1) (0) Francesco Mochi, St.Veronica;

(b) Btrnini, Sf. Lon.(inus:

15 (() Fronfois Duquesni!J. St.Andrew;

(d) And". Bol.lii, 51. Helen,Rome, SI. Peter's (photos;Ancftrson 20590, 20598,

20588.20 59J)

I (j Domenichino, Prudencewilh Time. Rome, S. Carlo ai

Calinari (pholo: Alinan'

29983)

and Charily, who rest their arms on thepedeStal. Truth looks up to the sun (one ofUrban VIII's emblems) and Charily holds onechild while looking down toward the other whoreaches up toward her; between them at theirfeet on the lower level cringes the chained figureofAvarice. Apart from the theme of the allegory, its relevance for Bernini lay in the unily andcoherence of the composition, and the psychological counterpoint enacted by the figures.

The earlier papal monuments had includedfour allegories each, alluding to the terrestrialand celestial virtues of the popes: Paul 111Justice, Prudence, Peace and Abundance; Gregory XIII-Charity, Peace, Failh, Hope. (Themonument to Paul III was firSt erettedfreeslanding in a side aisle with the allegoriesplaced at the hont and back; when il was movedand reinslalled in a niche in one of the crofsingpiers, Justice and Prudence were placed at thebase while the other two were set on the pediment above). Bernini may be said to haveabstracted and combined the two chiefvirtues ofthe earlier tombs, Justice and Charily. The significance of this choice must be underStood inthe light of a projett to integrate the choir andcroJsing of St. Peter's in one grandiose andcomprehensive program. At the center thetomb of St. Peter was crowned wilh a new baldachin that exprefsed Christ's triumph in ilsvery design; and the papal altar was surrounded

Irving Lavin

in the crof.~ing piers wilh relics and images ofsaints evoking ChriSt's paJsion, the whole embodying the proceJs of sacrifice and salvation.

It must have seemed posilively providentialthat the };unese tomb, having been transferredto one ofthe eroJsing piers, was, so to speak, «inthe way» of this vast program. 33 The idea ofmoving il to the apse (1628-9) to form a pairwith the tomb of Urban gave the opportunily todemonstrate the significance of papal succeJsion through the location of the two monuments, as well as their design. Placed in the lateral niches the pair flanked the tomb ofSt. Peterhimself at the center of the crofsing. Thisarrangement formed a coherent group ofmem01'ials that served to illustrate the millennial papal succefsion and hegemony initiated underSt. Peter and established under Constantine. 3 j

Moreover, the choice ofJustice and Charity created in relation to Paul III 's Justice and Prudence an inescapable contrapposto in meaning,as well as form: the cardinal virtues traditionally afsociated with earthly dominion, the wiseruler, vis-a-vis the divine virtues proper to thepope as a Sl)irilualleader, the just judge. 35 Afinal correlation and contrast is evident in thetreatment of what is, lilerally and figuratively,the central theIne of both tombs, that is, deathitself. In both cases the caducity of earthlyexistence is expreJsed by wing-borne inscriptions with the names of the deceased (fig. 24),

33 Jl/lI.u bH,'1l )l/p.~'dlc(lthat U,biJll

dJtl,lC fo pmr 1m tomb Ir'ltll awl r{

PflUlll/ benJu"l' till' Forune pope

l('I'l'rd til tl moJelji'r lIB 0;1'11

/H'llOtl~/j{ umb/lwm (Srolt 1991,

6), 1\1" (,II'U.' i\ tlwt tilt' pnnltlrv

Ilwfiu{' li'iJ~ the dt'm')II{lmllo/ilif'

11U1}(// (oltflllud)' tlnd Ihr wmp/r

JIll'l1lurr.tr 11'piJptlltl/ldcnl1l ulld

<IJ,riluul dfl/llll1llJll

:u Ull 11IIi tltt'1IlI' I~J pufwl Hil

~'t1\WII1l1IhrUI'1'll/ll,'fl1H'11111t11t'

10/llb~ \1"(' lJClr~ClIII' 1989, 3/3- J'

jllllc)iHdb),Sdlllt..,t' 199,/,265/,

lJ1h~) /wln tllUl tht' n:!crclllt: {I.'vl/lt!

'Wi'f be '/lIltUdfl II'/lid 1'1 (/dt'p'ditHl lj'ChnH GIL IIlg fi'l h~)'_1

III St, Pda (npeatlll!; thl' iul~dl tif

I/]t, IIlrdirL'iJl dnflrlIIWIl1f1/},e (JP~{'

oj Ihr ulJ busrlrllJ) Il1(/t II (JS I'/all'/lrl! fur file u!fur III t111~ fr/lfl'r t1'Ihf

l/PH', bt'lli.,t!/'lIl1lf Iwo tombs.

35 PiJl1oj~~lr 190-/-, 9'/' /loled tll(~

lUl,sllllltllmrrll'dufrmll"tnfPtlul

II I lumb (if the thfOl(l~,uJ/l irtut',

Churll)',j;,rtltflllt1rlJllrrlllf·Prll

drllc('; bllf he jUlIeJ 10 r('o/, ~t Ihal

tlll~ [htlll.~l' iml,llt du ulrn'5pol1l11llg

shifi III /I1rolllllgjor.lll(llL('

/7 Vomenichino,Jumce wahBe.l1ign~ly, Rome, S. Carlo (Ii

Catinari (pholo: Alinari

29984)

Bernini's Bumbling Barberini BGes 69bling Barberini bees and the spirit in which theywere conceived was provided by Bernini himself. His words are quoted by his biographers inrecounting an incident that took place at theunveiling of the tomb ofUrban, in the presenceof the pope's ferociously inimical succeJsor, Innocent X, who had driven the Barberini familyinto exile: «One cannot refrain at this pointfrom recalling a cutting reply the Cavaliere gavein demonstration of his nrm allegiance to U rban, to a person of high slation who was notsympathetic to the Barberini family. He hadrepresented here and there on the sarcophagusof the tomb a number ofbees, for no other purpose than to allude wittily to Urban's arms. Theperson noticed, and in the presence of otherssaid to the Cavaliere wilh a smile, Sir,you havewished bplacingthe bees hm and there to portrC!)! tile di.I'jJcr-·

sian ofthe lJarberini fam(ly (the members had thenwithdrawn to France), to which without a moment's hesitation Bernini replied, Butyou, Sir,mC!)! well/mow that dilpersed bees at the sound ofa bell returnto congregate, referring to the great bell on theCapitoline that sounds at the death of everypope. Bernini's reply brought him great applause hom those who reflet'led on the risk hetook at that time to remain conslant to thememory of his benefactor.» Sf) 86 N'rl((/l{/\ri(lni(!I'/'rlllqllr~t/l

I/logo fIJj;,r /'tnmlnll, II tli IHI'nCIi

lifirmn n~/J()Jlo, rhr I/l/r<timonl

an;::a drl/u .\lin ll1a/lr((J!Ji!t·JeriI' vrnn Urlltlllo (Iirl/r ,/ C(I/lCllirrr (J J 1/11 I'I'f\OI111ggio at nllo colldi;;,w/H', /I('r alfro /W(fll~f/l' '/mulln IJ

Cmu Barheri/li. Ilm'rNJ egliJltrlratl' slIl'untn clrl Sl'polrro III lj/lfi, I' illla alclIllr Api, chI' /'ugamrlllr olllldr/lorlo all'Armf fI,

Urbano: 0fscn,nllo il I'rnmwgJ:io aCfrllrwln, f' Jl1'r~l'll/r ullff' /lrl"'Onr ripo/lmi (II eovol,rl'p, ~omdrndn d~fip, Sl:~n(lr Cflmllrfe,

\ '. S. hi! 1'0111111 willi .Hll1a;:iol1l' dllJlIr~tr Api in qui/' r in IIi mns/rrJre la al~/,eni()ne di C05a Barbrrin; (trann aI/om Ie !,rfllmr rlr

qurl/a Cam clisgut/a/r ral Pontr/irr, I' ritimlr in Frrlllrrn) 01 rhr ,\"";:0 ji'npo{ronr (fl trmpo rJfpojr il Bf'rtlmo. \' S. /Jrril/llIill,rll

Inf)rrr, chI' /r A/ll cMprnr nd till mnll dr Cam/JCIllorrio ~i fnrnallo tl congrr,liarr, inlrlldendo tlrllngron Cam/lalln rli C(IIlI/l/(/I~li/ro,

(he IIlClnlJ dO/Jpnln mode Iii flOSClI/l Palm, Prr 10 '/lUll n1Jlo</n rnrn1b II C"l'lIlierr 1'1I/J!IIOlNI dlH~lItn, dl/ rill ,rNlr rd1f'lIt'rr, HI/1

({l/lmlnSlIn /J('(ic(1lo ill f/l/pllp CCln,~iunllire dt" tempi Ii /Jlallfpnrfr ro!lanlr nl/n/llrmorifl del Wfl flenrjol/orr, (flr/'tllllr 17/ .'1, i.'1f)hi '1ur~1 'll/lrro (11I1,rlle/11 incomincwtfl dill' allil O/lOl1tr 1Illl1ol'le til Urlmno r 5co/)rrl(/ Clrm (/ SO /lIrs; 1111/10 rill' r.~li.llIIJI1fJtrlll 1111 ip/II

r riil[II alltl JJrr-'>Pn~ tlrl IlIn mc~finrr lllll(lrrn~io. Ni if) I'nglio losn'nrr di /mrlllJ'r in qlJe!lnlliogo 11/1 'anJln rl</)(l~I(/ chI' r!ir(lr II Dr/

nillo f1!Jrrwlloggw (Ii (If to (ondi:;.;onr,!lOro nmiro di rO'iO Hnrbrr'llt1, rlrp {t(Jll(J.~1I0rd(/l1l/o, pfr\rllil (l1lrr /)rrlflllr, Al 1'1'(/" Hrrllillfl

l)rf' Will rrr/a/,i::,zaf'i(J, r non oe! nItro jlnr figuralr ill qU{I, illiri sopm II drpo5l1n (J/nH1r opi, al/ml('lltJ (JlI'armr Ifi q,/rl'IlJ/W; Orr,.

I'ol/e if !Jrrll501w,l{gio r dif;r: «Slgllor ral'lllirn-, \I. S., IHlllolllto roll/(J sillln;"lO/1r iiI (1t1I.'~tr /l/ll' III (/lICl I' HI IflllloUrilrr III ar~/l('nlll/Ir

(II (Q\O Bnrllrrilln~) (prtllJolp PPriOIJ(' clr qllrl/a rm(l rllimle in 1--".lllrin), r cmi riqJOsr II Drntino: «\". S. Jlrril Im!1 hrll \(J/ll'I"t', rl1r

II' fl/ll fJi</,rrsr lid HlI wmlO tli C(JIl1!JCI/1oci'in \1 /flr/lfIllO II congregn:r >"), inlellt!l'lIdo ripI/o ca/ll/Jf/f1t1 grclllfh· cit CIIIIl!JlCI(l.~/I(l (!II' \llIlllll

dnpn la modr til' '/m/li, (Iloldilltlrri Iq-J.R, 88)

umphs over the very emblem ofearthly caducity.At the same time, the lyrical delicacy of the motif reinforces a hint of nostalgia implicil in another emblematic af~ociationof the laurel andbee, the Virgilian Golden Age evoked rhapsodically by contemporaries in relation to the Barberini papacy. R-; «That tree of knowledge, oftriumph, of poetry, of empire, of immortalily,of chaSlily; and similarly the bee of eloquence,poetry, continence, clemency, diligence,artifice, long and prosperous life, eternal felicily, peace, and union.»R4.

Thc primary wilneJs to the meaning of thetomb is to be found where it should be, in thecoat of anns of the Barberini pope, attached tothe face of the arch at the apex of the niche(ng. 49). Here an extraordinary-indeed, as faras I know unique-operation is performed bytwo heaven-sent meJsengers. The Barberini es··cutcheon, inSlead ofarriving, as in the ceiling ofthe Palazzo Barberini (fig. 35), is detached fromthe papal tiara and keys and carried aloft. 85 Theimage is a living demonstration of the fleetingearthly presence and S"piritual sublimation ofanindividual mortal who briefly occupied the centel' of an eternally abiding creation of the will ofGod.

In the end, however, perhaps the sharpeStinsight into the signincance of Bernini's bum-

83 Sl'f IIII' ti/rllion, If! Srhiil ,c

Iqq.l. ~·18 rI. Inn

84 QlIfl/oa/hl'l'otli5CirlJ:;'l}. If,

Irion/o, diprl{'\ia. tl'lm/)£'''IO, ll'im

moduli/Ii. di ((I<lilll; '\:/IlI,.ioh'nfl'

fAJll' d'doqllcn:;.a, J)Or'lfl, collti

rlrn,f1. rlrmrn,u, cllllgcn,lI.

orf!jino,l'illlJJr(l(/If'l'lI. rlllllg/!,

/t'linlarlrl'llo,/wfl. E:. IJIlUJIlI'.·)

Frrro 162,?, /I, ~-

85 \\1H11 f 1I 111uld mlllllr <- ~'l.'mm(J

/'tpnr/Illo ~'> lIloll!' {jilf UO/IIr1r ~f','

(,'om!d1rl! If};';, 121f. ll'}W rl\~'\

/Ill' teflll «~Irmma 111 /lIn/'If, »

Swtl1991. IP;) 1IIIIlll'irll114thr

1111f1f'nlrmldrmll!CI'lf</wlll!IO

t!Jrf),\l\, Ihr imllgoc!lprlll{/ (/0/uhlrlr Irr I fll'1I11c)8n, (iqf) Onfhr COlli 0IlJrml Oil Ill{' Urboll111mb, If',' fl!'(1 rrhl IqR;, :.;'():!

flrrnini \ lI'r cy'tllr nlOtJ!';1 ,Inll

~rn~1J·Ii~flt"f'IIfIi-om 111,11 1If. \I~mtfi, I!I'flmrcl hI' :\I1l/ltll~l/ Iq8" Iq, ':!.! ! 11. -I.'j.

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Nil, I. P., «Urbano VIII el'ltalia (1623-1644). Aproposilu di unanuova monografia slorica,» Nuoua riuHfuSlorica, VI, 1922, 168-90

P.... :-ItH5K\. t.. , 70mb Sculpture. Four l.eClures on iis CI1Un,~;"g MJ,eCls from Ancient

Egypt to Bernini, New York, 1964

PA510k 1.. VON, The Hislory ofthe PopesJrom fheGloseoft1JeMiddlcAges, 4,0 vols ..London, 1923-53

PAWN. \\ . R., 1Jle GreekAntholog)', 5 vols., Cambridge MA and Londoll.

t925-4:3PLAt: II .... M, II., Minerva Brilonnu. Or a Cordell ofHeroicul Devises, Furnished. ond

Adornel1 willI Emblemes and lmprf.sa·s ofSulld!) Nu/ure, Newly Devised. Moraliz.ed, and Published, London, 1612

Pll.INl:.lll. F., MunduS~llIbolicus,Cologne. 1729

PtrlllASMOA. S., De9mbo/isheroicis. Antwerp, 163'~

POl'l IIINNE > J, Ito/iall High RenaifSollee olld Boraqu(' Sculpture. I.onooll

and New York, 1970

PRAI, LIM Iboo KUllslunclKulturam lIofe Rudofphs 11. , EJsen, 1988

Qu I UNALI. R.. DieSaladiCoffantinoim vafikonisdlen Pulo/t . .-QJr Dekun!Ji"n dcrbei

dell Medici-Pr"ijl/le Lco X. llIld Clemens VIJ., Hildesheim and New York,

1979l{"C ... U .... M. II., et al., Plil!}. Naturuf IMlo!), 10 vols., Cambdridge MAiind

London. 1938-62RII'A, C .. Jeanologia OVlJero descn1tione di diverse imagini cauole daf/'ontichilci, & di

proprio inuenlione, Rome, 16031eollologia, ovvero descn1tioned'imaginidelle virtu.Vl1ij. affeW, pafsioni humane, corpi cdelli, llIondoesue porti, Padua, IGU

RusHl VN FA111(;I VlIt'[I. II., Vir;gil, ? voIs., Cambridge MAand London,

1950SL:IIIAVO. ,\., <<;lscri:doni inedil~ dellllonumento di Urbano VIII,»

Studiro/llolli, XIX, 1971, 30'/-8

SlllUILl. S., «<Urbano inaha Pietro, e Pie.tro Urbano.) Beobachtungen zu Iclee und Gdlalt der Ausstanungvon Neu-St.-PeteruHter Urban VI II, » Romiscllesjohrbuch der Bibliotheea Herl.{jana. XXIX,

1994.2[3-87

Bernini's Bumbling Barberini B(?es

~1:0l1',.1 B.. «~So Ivo alIa Sapienza and Borrornini's Symbolic L,n

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«Patronage nnd the Visual Encomium during the Pontificate of

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Su 141 N lliiN I R, II., «Umrijse 'lUI' Ausstattungvon St. Peter in Rom vonPaul lIT. his Pnul V. (I5'~7-T605),» F'd1srhrififiirHoIlSSe(lIl1l~yr, Mu"

nich, 1962, 229-320

Sotll "' RN. R ,\' , Wenem Vielt)so!fsfom in tltf Mir!fU.. Agt'S, Camhri(lg~ MA.196'2

S,. AI, P., Domenirhino, New Haven and London, 1982

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naired'un fangage perdu, 3 vols .. Geneva, 1958-6411lnrN rs, CH., «<Peregi naturae cursum>. Zum Grabmal Pauls 1JI .• »

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dl'rkilnS/lerisch('nMotive, Helsingfol's, 1912

Tounl. P., Pit'fro1accadaCaraml, Genoa, [984\' t I RIANO, C; P., HierogJy/lhira, Hasel, 15561 IFROGIIFICI O\"fRO CO\l~lf"'T"RII Oilit OCCllITI' Sl'. IFH:ATIONI nr.

e.1 '[ ,111IJ, l' ALTRE ~AIl"NI,Venice, 1625

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VII I, » L'urle, XIV, 1971, :;4.-68\VIlll'O\\, F It, P . Giml l.orell{o Bernini. Tht' Swlptoroltlle Ramon Boroqlle, Lon

don,1g81

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XXIII, Amstt':rdam, [979

'I I 1M F k ,J ,Joseph Heinke/erA-Ilrre. Zrirhnungen und DO~·lIm,ntl'. Mi.inchen T988

Illustrations

AlinariA R rs P: Archivio della Reverend;! Fabbrica (Ii S. Pietro

[\1 f: Bihliotheca Hertziana

ICC n: JSliluto Centrale per il Catalogo e la DOf'\lmentazione, Rome

SA(~N: Sopl-intendenza aile gallerie, Naples

Bernini's Bumbling Barberini Bees 59

JRGiulio Romano, Urban I. Rome.Palu«o VotiCllno, So/a eliCoflontino (photo: Ant/trson

8833)I(}Cl1erubinoAIIJerti, Urbon Vll,

engraving

20 Gu./{/ir/mo dl'lIa Porto. Tomb ~

Paul JJJ. Rome. St. Pefer's (photo

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21 ProlperoAntirhi. Tombuf

GregoryXIII. Rome, St. Peler's(afi"Chawn lGn./V, 82)

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60

except that Bernini aJsiInilated this Inotif, andthe figure of HiStoria represented on the hontof Paul Ill's cope (fig. 25), to the traditionalwinged personifIcation of Death, which nowbecoInes also the fateful recorder ofljfe. 36

However, the choice ofJustice and Charilyalone for the tOInb of Urban-unprecedented,I repeat, in papal funerary iconographysuggeSls that this cOInbination of virtues, intheir divine nature, had SjJecial meaning in thecase of Urban VIII. (I want to eInphasize hereparenthetically, that the tomb of Urban was anastonishing, even revolutionary departure hOInthe grandiose, self-exposilory Inonuments covered wilh great visual biographies, erected by hisrecent predeceJsors, Sixtus V and PaulVat Santa Maria Mag·giore. 37 ) The cOInpleInentary andneceJsary attributes of Charily andJuslice werea constant feature in the ideology of the goodIna[1Strate from antiquily on, discuJsed and eu···10[1zed in innuInerable ways in innuInerabletexts. 0 ne of the leilmotifs of this theIne Inade itparticularly relevant to Urban VIII because itwas based on the equally ancient tradihon thatthe social organization ofthe bee, three ofwhichaniInals conStiluted the coat of arms of UrbanVIII, represented the ideal slate: a hierarchicalmonarchy where every individual had ilsaJsigned place which il never transgreJsed, andwhere every individual made ils contribution tothe comInonweal, wholeheartedly, and in utterharmony wilh its fellows. 38 Two SjJecific

Irving Lavin

characteristics ofthe bee were eSpecially relevantto the ideology ofthe good ruler, the fact that thebee could inflict pain its st.inger, and was thusfeared by ils enemies, but also produced sweethoney and was thus loved by its hiends. 39 Theother important characteriStic was that the ruling bee ilself-often thought to be a king ratherthan a queen; larger, Inore important andconStantly surrounded and guarded by his subjects-had no stinger. 1·0 On both these counts,the ideal state of the bee was based on and derived from the ideal admixture of charily andjuslice inherent in ils nature. In general terInS,the bee became one of the important emblemsof the ideal ruler, as when Alciati depicledPrincely CleInency as a hive to which bees are attracted because the ruler treats his subjects wilhjuslice and clemency, or as an enthl'oned seatedruler to whoIn the bees fly in good will (figs. 26,27). II Pungat et ungut is the motto of another eInblem of the Principe Perfecto, illuStrated by aswarm ofbees following ilsleader (Eg. 28). V' Inanother case, the swarm following the kingillushates the paJsage on the StingleJs king beefrom Seneca's discourse on Clemency to indicate that, in Pliny's words, Inajdt.y alone

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clearly taken as apposite for Urban, whose veryname, as we have seen, incorporated the ideal ofrigor tempered by charily. All these metaphors,the SlingleIs king bee, the poetic viCtory over theferocious lion, the rule by majesty alone, thedominion ofurbimily, were applied to the popein the lilerary celebrations ofhis election. +9 Indeed, 1suspeCt that the tradilion ofthe bee as theembodiment of the Godly coincidence of opposites, clemency and justice, may have been themoSl important faCtor in the choice of those allegories for the tomb. In any case, these afsociations of the bee must have made the election ofMaffeo Barberini to the papacy seem like a heaven-sent materialization of those same divinevirtues that were the quintefsential attributes ofthe vicar of ChriSl on earth.

This point may be thought of, and certainlywas thought of by contemporaries, as lilerallytrue. One more bee-fac'l is neceJ.~ary to underSland why. Because of the attributes we havediscufsed, and for many other reasons, as wellfor example, the perfecl geometry of its hive andt.he perfeCt ef£ciency of ils anatomy-the beewas regarded as endowed with a supernatural intelligence. vVhence il became a synlbol ofDivineWisdom, whose primary aim was to make manperfeCt in his own image. The idea is both clafsical and biblical: «Led by such tokens and suchinSlances, some have taught that bees have l'eceivecl a share of the divine intelligence, and adraught of heavenly ether; for God, they say,

(maid/ate tantum) , not cruelty, suffices for theideal ruler (fig, 29). -13

Although il has not been properly undero'lood heretofore, the same fundamentalthought underlies the famous illuSlrations byBernini and Rubens for edilions of Urban'spoetry (figs. 30, 31). Both portray the ideal ofoverwhelming Slrength united wilh the gentleneIs of poetry. Bernini showed David as defender ofhis flock Slrangling the lion (1 Samuel17:34-5) but with his harp nearby. Rubensshowed Samson killing the lion, from whose

body bees iJsued forth «< ... and out of theshong came forth sweetneJs,» Judges 14:5-6,8, 14); this biblical episode is mentioned in apoem addreJsed to Urban's brother Antonio, aCapuchin monk, which alludes to the spiril'srise to heaven from the corrupt body. II Rubenshere also identiJies Urban's poetry wilh themellifluousneIs of bees. The bees ifsuingspecifically from the lion's mouth, including aformation of three, draw an obvious parallelbetween Urban, celebrated as a poet in the«Greek» Slyle, anclPindar, whose poetry wassaid to have been inSlilled by honey that bees haddropped upon him as a child. ·1·5 But the basicimage and the conceil derive from a broaderconcept, that is, self-control, Dominio eli se S/efso,the moSl noble form of Force, represented byR11Ja as a man slraddling and bridling a lion(fig. 32).1 b Ri]Ja's image had been taken up asa counterpart to· Strength by Domenichino(fig. 33):17 This ideal of sclf-reslraiut wasclaJ.~ical in origin, aJsociated above all wilhAlexander the Great, whose greatneJs was augmented by his self-control, which proved hisgreatnefs as much as any viCtory: «.,. greatminded as he was and Slill greater owing to hiscontrol of himself, and of a greatnefs proved bythis aCtion as much as by any other viCtory: because he conquered himself ... »+8 The idea was

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V ESPARV lJ 'luoaflNIIJVII'1I1Amr.,x j}iUJ/A Igtl,.QN'''#, 4ft}J 411pl0 ("pof( 11I1IJOr Iril j

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lSGi. Emblemalo1'J.9

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liMllLE·

ANDREAS ALCIArr

EMBLEMA IX.Principis clementia.

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2u Clemell9' oI/he Prince. Alcia/i162/, l:.'mblellla CXI.lX

DOCVME NTO XXXll!.

3+ DE SYMBOLIS HEROICIS

28 Punga/elungu/. Mendo1661,

/60

S." el Principejttjhciero, pero jl<nr"menfeimamfiejle pladoJo.

I ha dl:: fer todo rigor., ni (Odo picdgd?h el Principe: j fC:111 rymbolo fuy.o J~,s

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, yen tener Re'Y'Clue:l:u rige. Forman L1~ rrf<~~;t<.,i. .. mj~J con dulzlIr;l,[1]Y cn ocafionc:sft/"JIIA/.r-",./..", CQO (u :lguIJOot"3(hgan (cucfamcmc,Ali fc: con[eru3 b,•/", &.,*/..,;" Cocona.call:igaodo1y endu!.z.:ludo..A.ui(o,qucdio-c:J S:l;;,=t~~7!4";t. bio.Re~ Don AlQn(oj b]lI-.Ca c~mo qcicr <Iue kt Iul1iCI~mcor",I', .. Cia C): llluy buc:na t"ot:'l cn (j, e de CJUC debe c1 IteyI Lcp,t;I,IOpll. 01 ~empre vl'3r,cOij rODo ero ticcfe muy cruel, quando:'DIln hut! QIO:··" a 1.15 vegadas 00.<=5 rcmpbJa.conla mirerlcoJi:l. -£4J{li COIUIIl,lbiul., £1 Rey Don EnriC]uc ~1:lrtO V$U dc vna g:r~n:l..da,p'}r~rnt.lc,IOrOt.t'l. f)'mbolo

FERDI:<ANDVS ]V!EDICEV\, FRANCISCI flJ·

rer l ar(luc i[(.·m Hctrl.lrix IvbF;llUS Dux,vti (r..11

limul l'rxfd!:us Ah: Nobilium cJ(JplmCtorullllnciui(J(C Sencnfi, & V( propo{uerJ( foil digni(a(c.'"prxelTc· l'«Tem Jpum Clun choro & {J(dli(io pill·xir,& le;nn~J Symboli hoc fui(: MA lEST ATE TA~·TV M . Salus cnim rex, inter apes, eft finc Jeulco:

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~9 Maleslutelall/lIl11. Pidmsunlu

.10 Bernini, David Killin,s:/he Lion,

r.ngrauing. Barberi/Ii /631, tillepoge

A"N 'f' VERl'L'E, EX OFFICINA I'LANl'INIA·NA

LlAI.THASAIUS "\ORf~TI. 1\1. OC. X' "\(31 Rubens, Samson Killing/he

1.1U1l, cngrauing. Barberini 1634..litlepage

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pervades all things ... ; yea, unto him all beingsthereafter return, and, when unmade, arereSlored; no place is there for death, but, stillquick, they JJy unto the ranks of the Slars, andmount. t.o the heavens aloft» (Virgil, Georgics,IV. 219-27);')0 «For my spirit is sweet abovehoney: and my inheritance above honey andhoneycomb» (Ecclesiasticus 24:27).5 1

To he sure, all popes are eleCled by the actionof Divine Providence, operat.ing through theballots of the College of Cardinals. But. at. t.heelection of Maffeo Barberini, the action ofDivine Providence-the descent of the HolySpirit, one might. well aJsert.-was made physically manifeSl by the sudden appearancethrough an open window of t.he Conclave ofnothing leJ.~ than a swarm of bees! The event. isalluded to in a tapeSlry illuSlrating Urban'sele<.'1:ion, where a conSllicuously open window isshown conspicuously in t.he background (fig.34). The wonder is repeated in Pietro da Cortona's frescoed vault in the great salon of thePalazzo Barberini (fig. 35), where the invadingsquadron is framed by a wreath of laurel (thesecond major Barberini emblem, concerningwhich we will have more to say presently) andsurmounted by t.he papal arms. 52 Acontemporary account of the decoration aClually describest.he scene as Divine Providence commandingImmortalil:y to crown wil:h il:s starry diadem thearms of the new pope, whose election had madehim «King of the Bees. »53 The $lory of theelection, and Cortona's reference to il: had yet adeeper significance, however, since Urban'svictory was confirmed only after a recount. wastaken, at his insiSlence, when it was discoveredt.hat a ballot was miJsing from t.he scrutiny thathad eleCled him. 54- This is t.he primary scene

represented in the eleclion tapestry, where allegoricalngures of ModeSly and Magnanimity flyinto the conclave to celebrat.e the virtues Urbandisplayed in his own election. 55 His coronationand aJsurance of immortalily, presaged by themiracle of the bees, were t.hus occasioned by hisexemplary demonstration of virt.ue in ils moslheroic form, self-reStraint.. The pope's biographer commented: «It was a truly memorabledeed t.hat will render his name forever moSl glorifIed because, seeing himself at. one point popeand then not pope, with great courage and withsuch a magnanimous heart he decided to let thewelfare of the universal Church prevail over hisown desire for the supreme principate. W11erefore amongst his other signal faculties and

spiritual qualities are the conSlancy, magnanimity, and generosity he demonSlrated in hisheroic act, it will be sufficient. to render hisname immort.al and celebrate to the world t.hemanner in which he aJ.mmed the papacy.» GG Itmight thus well be said that the age of theBaroque was ushered in by a supreme act ofephemerality-the sudden descent uponRome, the church and mankind, of an unmiSlakably heaven-sent swarm of bumblingBarberini bees, conveying to the chosen one t.hedivine virtues ofClemency andJuSlice proper tohis newly acquired office.

Wilh that swarm began the verilable invasion(plague, as some would have il by the time Urban's reign ended) ofbees, the number ofwhichpopulating Rome and t.he papal slates one waglat.er eSlimat.ed at. more t.han t.en thousand. 57 Inmy estimation, however, what diSlinguished theBarberini bees was not their number-manypopes had been great builders and art patrons,and many puns and other games had beenplayed with their coats of arms. But none hadacquired the aclive, literally volatile presence ofthe Barberini bees. Perhaps one should rathersay transience, for to my mind and in our context, at.leaSl, the Barberini bees embody the notion of ephemerality in their period more profoundly and more pungently than any othersign. They JJy againSl the blue slry in t.he churchof the virgin at the altar of heaven (fig. 36); andin the early medieval apse mosaic in the basilicaof Ss. Cosmas and Damian in t.he heart of theRoman forum, where a Barberini reSlorationgave new life to the image of Urban's predecer~or, the saint.ed Pope Felix IV (Felicitas=

H appine.r~2' they fructiry t.he garden ofparadise(fIg. 37).5

This same quality informs the famous beest.hat have alighted on Urban's t.omb, having now

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presumably paJsed through a window of thebasilica, to participate in the commemorationof St. Peter's departed succeJsor and theirbeloved ruler-just as they had done twentyyears before at Urban's election. In fact, thethree large bees that allude to the coat of armsare really the leaders-king-size bees, onemight say (figs. 38, 39)-ofa swarm that populates the monument; the others are much smaller, worker bees-indeed, they are true to scale(figs. 40, 41, 42).59 Transforming the papalcoat of arms into a swarm of insects bumblingover the papal tomb was, surely, an aCt ofunparalleled imagination and wil, which also served totransform the mood of melancholy and deSi)airusually aJsociated wilh funeral iconography intoa moment of surprise and even of joy. 00 TheeJ~ential idea was not new, however. Stingingswarms had been afsociated wilh, and attachedto tombs in two closely related and complementary instances, both ofwhich I think were semi··nal inspirations for Bernini's conceil. oj TheGreek Anthology includes a description of thetomb ofArchilochus , «who firSt made the Musebilter dil1ping her in vipers' gall, shining mildHelicon wilh blood ... PaJs quietly by, 0 wayfarer, leSt haply thou arouse the wasps that aresettled on his tomb.» 02 Archilochus was thefounding father of Greek lyric poetry, famousfor having composed the song ofviclory used bythe viCtors at Olympia, and for inventing theepode and many other verse forms; but he wasalso famous for his bitter satires, which wounded his enemies even unto death. G3 It was thus akind of poetic justice that at his own death hisbarbs should return as a reminder of his malicious verses, in the fonn of a swarm of waspscarved on his tomb. The idea was visualized inAlciati's famous emblem book (fig. 43), andgiven Urban's fame as a poet himself-he wrotea great deal in exaCtly the kind of epodic verseaJsociated with Archilochus-therc can be nodoubt ofhis , and Bernini's, familiarity with thetradition. G·f The second inSlance of apiarysepulchral imagery concerned the emperorDomitian, whose cruelty, estJccially towardChriStians, was celebrated and immortalized bythe avenging attack on his tomb of swarms ofwasps and bees (ftg. 44):

Once Nero's name, the world did quaketo heare,

And Rome did tremble, at Domilian's sight:But now the Tyrant, cause of all this feare,

Irving Lavin

Is laid full low, upon whose toombe do light,To take revenge, the Bee, and summer Flie,Who not escap't sometime his crueltie. G5

It is remarkable indeed, and mus! have seemedprovidential to the pope and to Bernini, thatthese two aJsociations between stinging inseclsand tombs should both apply aptly to Urban, thefirSt as pod, the second as pope; providentialalso in that simply by reversing the sense of themalevolent tradition, the iInage of the beeinfesled tomb could be transformed. lnslead ofswarming to avenge ancient, pagan evil, the apian chorus (one can praCtically hear the buzzingof the busy bees) is attracted to its ruler, as inAIciati's emblems of Princely Clemency (ftgs. 26and 27). The bees celebrate the triumph ofChristian virtue realized poetically in Urban'sverses, devoted not to ddlructive diatribe butto pious inspiration; and inSlilutionally inUrban's reign, devoted not to tyranny andmartyrdom but to the charity and juslice of theofrule ofChriSl veSled in the pope. Consideredin this light the seemingly casual, bumblingplacement of the three big Barberini bees becomes charged wilh meaning. They all face upward and seem to rise in an ascending marchpast the skeletal figure of death, as if in reSponseto the resurrecting command of the pope--appropriated, as Kauffmann firSl noticed, fromthe geSlure of St. Peter himself in the Sala diCostantino series (fig. 22)-enthroned on hisseat of wisdom, ilself ornamented with bees. GG

It is aslonishing but true that the 10wermoSl b~,on the rim of the sarcophagus basin, has noslinger-it is not broken off, it never had one(fIg. 38), G7 0 death, where is thy Sting? 0 grave,where is thy victory?! (I Cor. 15:55) The othertwo(fig. 39), as if resurreCted, are whole againand proceed in their rise to the very borderbetween death, commemoration, and life. 1;8

The hyperbolic flattery usually attributed toBernini is belied not only by the theological nature of the allegories, but also by the inordinateimportance attributed to death ilself, by virtueof the inclusion of the Michelangelesque sarcophagus, and especially the central role playedby the figure of the Reaper in the drama of thetomb. G9 Like the bees, Death seems to rise fromthe sarcophagus, a conceit derived, I think,from the tomb of a great Flemish cardinal of thesixteenth century, well known through contemporary engravings of monuments of famouspersons (frg. 45).70 In the tomb of CardinalEraI'd de la Marck, however, Death performs his

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La fi2mma nella n1:1no, alquaneo balT'a,onrle 'tn fanciulfo n'2ccenda,.·II::' candela., eH lumC' dd (.perC'. communiC1co~lrJnctllcctopili debole,& men ea.pacC'~inuolco ancora nell.: coCc (cnlibili, & maccriali, &. a ;c~modandol'i 011101 b2nezza,mo(ha al F'anciulln 1:1 buona via della veric.i.ri·rnoucndcln dal precipl[io dC'll'crrore, che l\:a nrlle tcochre orcure dellacommune ignorilnl2. del \'olgo, f'ra 101 qU:lle C: ()J bearo colui, chc un(0 pliO vedere ,chc bJrti pcr non inciarnpare camin2ndo, Et r:J~jonetJnlmc:ntc la Om'trina fi alloOlitlia alia lian.rna , perche inrc:gna Ia...nr~da aU' anima J 101. \')Ulti'1 J &. r.on perdc bfua Juee J in acccndcrc 011·teO fuocu.

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role as memento mori in a traduional way, brandishing an hourglafs, whereas Bernini's figurewrues, or rather finishes wruing the name andtitle of Urban VITT in the black book of death(fIg. 48). The bookish Death seems to recall thatalong wuh his luerary interests the pope was anavid historian and bibliophile. 71 However, amore specific reference is suggeSted by a rarelynoted, and to my mind never properly underStood peculiaruy of the motif, the name ofUrban's predeceJsor partially visible on a preceding page. Often afsumed to refer to Urban'simmediate predeceJsor Gregory XV, the lettersare clearly legible as CL above and AL below,that is, Clement VIII Aldobrandini. And, as ifto avoid any pofsibiluy of misunderstanding,exactly the right number of pages, corresponding to the number of intervening popes, namely three, are shown between that with Urban'sname and that wuh Clement's.?2 (ClementVIII, Leo XI, Paul V, Gregory XV, UrbanVIII) It is not hard to understand why the reference to Gregory was avoided: that pope'snephew, Cardinal Ludovisi, had been a buterenemy since the time of the conclave. On theother hand, Urban had been a great favorite ofClement VI II, who had furthered his earlyca reel' in many ways. 73 However, I think therewas another, more specific reason, which mayeven have been the inspiration for the motif ofthe record book itself. One of the importan t actsof Clement was to have established in CastelSant'Angelo (originally the tomb of the Emperor Hadrian), the guardian fortreJs of the papacy, an archive for the historical records of thechurch, the so-called Biblioteca Clementina. 74

In praise of the project, Barberini wrote apoem, dedicated to Clement, which was included in all the editions of his collected verse. Thepoem, which is dedicated to Clement and tuledDe tabulario pontificio in arce Hadriana, involves an elaborate conceu specifically linkingthe records kept through the Pope's generosuyto the permanence of his fame. 75 Urban himself, apart from his famous luerary and hibliophilic interests, was also a great archivist, eStablishing along with several ecclesiastical repositories, a central archive of the notarial recordsof the city.76 Hans Kauffmann, recalling thefigure on Paul TII's cope, aptly described thefigure of death wruing in a book as a kind of allegory of History (fig. 46).77 Here, howeverDeath has the specific task of record keeperarchivist, one might well say-displaying at once

the ephemeraluy ofearthly things, bees as well aspopes, but also the permanence of heavenlythings, notably the church as embodied in theperson of us temporary temporal and spiruualhead. Therein lies the ultimate, and supremelyparadoxical, significance of Bernini's tomb ofUrbanVIII -and, I would say, of ephemeraluyin Baroque art generally. The very figure representing the triumph of transience, wingedDeath, is at the same time also the guarantor ofpermanence, indeed of immortaluy, throughthe achievements and fame of Urban, andthrough the divine virtues vested by God in theinStuution of the church and the papacy.

Bernini left two unmiStakable clues to' thesupernaturally inspired truth of this mefsage.Four of the small, «real» bees appear on thelegs of the sarcophagus, while a fifth has landedon a leaf of the laurel wreath that decorates thesarcophagus lid, near the tip of Death's wing(fig. 4~). 78 Laurel was, of course, the preeminent symbol of poetry and the victorious immortality it confers; 79 and one of the bestknown and most consiStent ofthe ideas attaehedto bees-based on Virgil's notion, quoted earlier, that the bee did not die but flew to heaven tojoin the Stars-was that they symbolized immortaluy. 80 The two Barberini emblems eoineidedin the principle Barberini family impresa,which depicted a flight of bees landing on thebranches of a laurel tree, with the legend Hic domus (fig. 47).81 The meaning and history of thisdevice are critical to an underStanding of themeJ~age of the tomb. The conceu is based on aclimactic paJ~age in the Aeneid when the hero,having at last reached Latium after his peregrinations from Troy, realized that he had reachedhis final destination, there to eStablish the religion ofhis fathers and the hegemony ofRome,from the wondrous descent of a large swarm ofbees upon a laurel tree sacred to Apollo. Heedingthe signs, he declared «Hie domus, haec patria est» (here is our horne, here our country). 82 Maffeo invented the impresa to celebratethe transferal of the Barberini family from Florence to Rome, and his own call to a higherdestiny, before he became pope.

The bee-infested laurel was thus a truly uncanny forecast of the apian intervention of Divine Providence in Urban's election. On thepope's tomb the little bee, the very emblem ofbumbling transience, almost invisible perchedon us botanical equivalent, by iis humble immortalily clips the wings of death itself and tri-

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COMMENTAPIJ.

Andrea: Alciati

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A/dali 162J, fmbfcl1111 LI

JJ Tomb ojCardinol Erord de /uMarek, Bois.sard, 1597-J602,

Pari IV, 10me II, Wie page

Di Cerare Ripa. Z35

HIS TOR 1 ,f.

Ticnc ro(,to,l plC:dc(opra il quadcuo, perdu:: J'HIIlotll dluc nar (..-rnpl'e (alJ:I. ne I, (full cC'rrompm:, 0 (uggiacerc d.ll.lcun:l b,nda con ];1. bugi.1 pec inmcll". che pcrel~ Ii Vent di bl:l.nCO .

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HISTOlll.A.

SJ pntri Jjpingcre VOl. donna, ehe volgcndo iI e"p" gu·rdi diwo 21Ie rpallc.& ~ he pcr (crra,doue db guard;l,vi Ii:lll') aleunr ,:'(0 di feri[ ..

ture mete auuoh.tu:, [cllghl vna ptlll13 in nun fl , &. fal~ \'("1l112 di vt"rde I

drelldo deUovc:nlOhntnContcfiofUlCndiqud /loli, ICJtlJli lichiJlnalin (l.'lllpreuiui • & dJlbllf& pHtc VI G.diplngeli vn oumc tono , (j co.mC' t:I.~ '1'.I~lIo e:hi:llt\~tn MCJuJro > nell:l Phugl.1 ••1 t.'u!c Ii r~~a;llJU'

m (c Ilello.IbA/I,go!JofVido!J. Ripo ,611.

235

f lIicdomus, Burbcriniimpresa.Ferro 1623,/1, 72

Tearro d'llJ.1 prcfc ,

Fi Bernini, 1ol1lbofUrbuIl VH/,detail. Rome, St. Peter's (piloto;

StoeJtner21u:l81)

49 Bernini. rombofUrban VIII,detail. Rome, St. Pde,s (ARFSP

B3772)

“Bernini’s Bumbling Barberini Bees”

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