Page - 159 - in Der Arkadenhof der Universität Wien und die Tradition der Gelehrtenmemoria in Europa

vo quanto sia possibile’ with a learned address in Latin ‘re-activates’ the bishop’s presence in an unprecedented way. As we have seen, busts being allusive fragments generally evoke the presence of the entire person. In the case of the Salutati bust, which so clearly refers the beholder to bish- op’s reliquaries, we also find a distinct reference to the antique bust portrait in its slightly oblique lower cut between arms and body. This double coding produces a twofold effect of presence, vis- ually and verbally: the presence of the bones (al- so referred to in one of the inscriptions) and the presence of the mind (underscored by the invita- tion for prayer and commemoration). The bust’s formal reminiscence to antique commemorative and genealogic bust portraits also hints at Salu- tati’s lineage, his family tradition and human- ist background. And last but not least, the salu- tation VALE LECTOR ET ME PRECIBUS ADIUVA, brought forth by the living presence of the bust, denotes the speaker proper: ‘Leonar- dus Salutatus’. His family name is literally in- scribed into the monument’s image concept and its commemorative function. a novel quattrocento iconography While this is not the place to discuss the entire chapel’s painted imagery in detail, it must be mentioned that the frescoes by Cosimo Rosselli of 1465 (which pose their own set of problems44) comprise a Sybil, a figure of Daniel fighting the lion, John the Baptist and Saint Leonard, and a Christ Child (Fig. 2).45 The vault is painted with seated figures of the Four Evangelists (Fig. 3). The paintings, in their iconographic combin- ation another uncommon choice, embed the tomb monument in the larger context of the four stages of individual salvation history as they cor- respond to the four stages of religious law: ante legem, sub lege, sub gratia, in pace. Saint Augus- tine in his writings prominently discussed these stages of salvation history, pointing towards the fact that humans are largely driven by their ap- petites, which only law can cure: law initiates the process of redemption by creating a conscious- ness of sin.46 Redemption, however, comes only through Christ. We will see that Augustine is a central figure for the Salutati Chapel’s overall re- ligious and humanistic concept. The Salutati Chapel also houses a marble altarpiece, likewise executed by Mino, whose iconography poses several questions (Fig. 7). In an antique-like framework, six figures are interacting in an unusual sculptural version of a sacra conversazione.47 The relief gradually de- velops from rilieveo schiacciato in the upper parts towards almost three-dimensional figures in the lower register (in that it reverses the spa- tial and sculptural concept on the other side of the tomb). In the center we see the Virgin Mary, the Christ Child seated on the stairs in front of her and blessing San Giovannino next to him The SaluTaTi Tomb in FieSole 159 44 Both the cathedral and the Salutati Chapel underwent a restoration campaign in the early 1880s. The frescoes were heavily repainted; see Giglioli, Catalogo delle cose d’arte e di antichità d’Italia (cit. n. 28), pp. 133–135. 45 Zuraw, The Sculpture of Mino da Fiesole (cit. n. 13), pp. 783–786; A. Padoa Rizzo, La Cappella Salutati nel Duo- mo di Fiesole e l’attivita giovanile di Cosimo Rosselli, in: Rivista d’Arte XXVI, 1950, pp. 116s. 46 The four stages of salvation history are at the core of Saint Augustine’s teachings. They are discussed in his Expositio quarundam propositionum ex epistula apostolic ad Romanos (Commentary on statements in the letter of Paul to the Romans). See the helpful summary and commentary in: Augustine Through the Ages. An Encyclopedia (ed. A. Fitzgerald/J.C. Cavadini), Grand Rapids,MI 1999, pp. 345–346. 47 It is located on the wall opposite the tomb. A sculpted altarpiece is, again, rather unusual in the 1460s in Florence and surroundings. There are several Tuscan Gothic altarpieces in marble, yet the painted altarpiece prevails in the early Renaissance. See U. Middeldorf, Quelques sculptures de la Renaissance en Toscane occidentale, in: Revue de l’Art XXXVI, 1976, pp. 7–26.