“Or guarda tu ... desta donna la forma” : Francesco da Barberino’s poetic and pictorial invention

The Tuscan lawyer and poet Francesco da Barberino (1264-1348) designed novel
personifications. His designs appeared on palace walls, in his book of hours, in
manuscripts of his didactic poetry, and on a tomb. In his conduct book the Documenti
d’Amore, Francesco drew attention to his invention of the images, and emphasized their
utility for his reader/viewer. Products of Francesco’s imagination, the images were to
prompt meditation, understanding and memory. Francesco’s design and use of images
provides important evidence of late medieval visuality.
The first chapter examines Francesco’s stake in his designs. His invention of
personifications was closely allied with his activity as a writer. Both activities involved
giving specific material form to abstract ideas. Personifications were evident fictions that
could be claimed by their inventor. Positioning himself carefully in relation to authority,
Francesco laid claim to the forms he invented, and to the role of mediator. The chapter
also discusses the function and reception of monumental personifications.
The second chapter examines the images in Francesco’s book of hours, or
officiolum. The design and placement of the images represent Francesco’s response to the
devotional contents of books of hours. Once executed, his designs prompted meditation
and a particular experience of the manuscript. Francesco’s self-consciousness about his
activity as an inventor is evident in the manuscript’s images.
The third chapter turns to the Documenti d’Amore. Drawing on the material
presence of the images, and on the commensurability of pictorial personifications to real
bodies, Francesco taught his reader to see and interpret images and the world, and to
shape his behaviour accordingly. Francesco’s forcible reinterpretation of the governing
figure of Amor, turning carnal love into divine, demonstrates responsible poetic and
pictorial invention and thematizes the reader’s responsibility for appropriate
interpretation. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the images of the
Reggimento e costumi di donna.
The concluding chapter addresses the tomb of Bishop Antonio degli Orsi,
sculpted by Tino di Camaino. Francesco adapted his preexisting allegory of Death to
commemorate the bishop. Comparison of the different versions highlights Francesco’s
representation of his claim to the mediating role of poet and designer.