Isaiah 42.1-9: The Servant Who Will Not Destroy

The Servant, the one who delights God's soul, works to support rather than destroy. The servant will not break a bruised reed or snuff out a wick that is only dimly burning.(Isaiah 42:1-9) The Servant might be compared to the tie rod found in Early Renaissance architecture. In architecture, the Renaissance appeared as a look back to Classical architecture - the buildings and styles of ancient Greece and Rome.

The vocabulary of Classical architecture is domes and arches, columns and pediments. The design for Florence, Italy's Pazzi Chapel employs a dome, arches, and columns. The arch and column pattern was also used in the cloisters of the Basilica di Santa Croce, the convent of San Marco, and the facade of the Ospedale degli Innocenti (Foundling Hospital). Though the designs reach back to the past, the new combination and the date of construction made these buildings among the most modern of their day.

Above left, cloister of the Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence, Italy. 

Above right, interior of the Pazzi Chapel, constructed 1442-1443. Florence, Italy. 

One of the realities of architecture is that it is bound by such forces as gravity and thrust. Designs can be drawn based only on aesthetics. Once stone was carved and stacked, however, the laws of physics cannot be ignored. The weight of the Roman (round) arches threatened to push the slender columns out which would lead to the collapse of the structure.

Rather than abandon the design (snap the reed...snuff the wick), the architect used a tie rod fastened on each arch's springing points. The rod gave additional support to the still-not-perfected use of Roman arches and barrel vaults. The weakness of the design was supported, nurtured, balanced by the strength of the rod. The bruised reed could be supported. The dimly glowing wick could be fanned to life. The tie rod gave the buildings a chance to stand. And so they have for more than 500 years.


See how this Early Renaissance accommodation finds its (fashionable) way through Florence and into painting in Art&Faith Matters on Facebook.

Missing the Magnificat Point

In the gospel reading for Advent 4B, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary to announce that she has found favor with God. Mary's response to this visit is the song known as the Magnificat (because in Latin the first word of the song is "magnificat"). Mary sings about the world turned upside down by the Messiah: the proud are put down, the humble are exalted, the hungry are filled, the rich are sent away empty. The world is changed. But it may be that Italian artists of the proto-Renaissance and early Renaissance didn't quite get the point of the Messiah.

When you see paintings of the annunciation at its simplest, you'll see Mary and Gabriel. In all of the images below, Gabriel is on the left with Mary on the right. The earliest of these five is the altarpiece by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi (1333). Martini is a prominent figure of the Siena school. Notice that Mary shrinks back slightly from Gabriel who kneels before her. Between the two figures are two pieces of vegetation. A vase of lilies, symbol of Mary's purity, sits on the floor. Gabriel holds an olive branch in his hand. The olive symbolizes peace, with which Gabriel greets Mary.

Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi. Annunciation with Two Saints, 1333. Originally for chapel of Sant'Ansano, Cathedral, Siena. Now in Uffizi Gallery, Florence. http://www.uffizi.org/artworks/annunciation-by-simone-martini-and-lippo-memmi/

Roughly a hundred years later, Bicci de Lorenzo (born and died in Florence) paints a similar arrangement. Gabriel stands this time, but there is no vase of lilies. Instead he holds a stem of lilies in his hand.

Bicci di Lorenzo. The Annunciation. 1433. For altarpiece of Madonna and Child with Saints for Compagni Chapel, Santa Trinita, Florence. Private collection. 

A little more than ten years after Bicci, Giovanni di Paolo (working primarily in Siena) keeps the same composition. Between the figures, a vase of lilies. In Gabriel's hand, olive branch.

Giovanni di Paolo. Annunciation. 1445. Pinacoteca, Vatican, Room II, Inv. 40131. http://www.vaticanstate.va/content/vaticanstate/en/monumenti/musei-vaticani/pinacoteca.paginate.1.html

Five years or so after that, Filippo Lippi paints the Annunciation. Between the figures, a vase of lilies. In Gabriel's hand, a stem of lilies. Can you guess Lippi's hometown?

Filippo Lippi. The Annunciation. 1450-1453. National Gallery, London. http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/fra-filippo-lippi-the-annunciation

Fast forward another two decades or so to Francesco di Giorgio who paints the annunciation. Same compositional arrangement - Mary at right, Gabriel at left. In Gabriel's hand? Olive. Look under the photo to see where this Annunciation lives. 

Francesco di Giorgio Martini. The Annunciation. 1470-1472. Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena. 

For museum: http://pinacotecanazionale.siena.it/

Are you getting a sense that something is going on here? Something is. The lily is a civic emblem of the (then) city-state of Florence. Florentine artists were no doubt pleased to have their emblem in the hand of God's messenger come to earth to announce the salvation of humanity. The artists of rival city-state Siena were less than pleased - were in fact determined not to have the emblem of their enemy in the hand of God's messenger. Hence, the olive branch in Sienese Annunciations. It's more than a little ironic - celebrating the coming of the Messiah who will turn the world upside down, but being certain that God has nothing to do with people who aren't "us."

Who are these women? And what do they have to do with the Magnificat? Click on  the Art&Faith Matters Facebook page and see who they are. 

For thoughts on the reading from Hebrew scripture for Advent 3B (2 Samuel 7) click here.