Table Of ContentC , I a e
uCkoldry mpotenCe and dultery In urope
(15 –17 )
th th Century
In Renaissance and early modern Europe, various constellations of phenomena—ranging
from sex scandals to legal debates to flurries of satirical prints—collectively demonstrate,
at different times and places, an increased concern with cuckoldry, impotence and
adultery. This concern emerges in unusual events (such as scatological rituals of house-
scorning), appears in neglected sources (such as drawings by Swiss mercenary soldier-
artists), and engages innovative areas of inquiry (such as the intersection between
medical theory and Renaissance comedy). Interdisciplinary analytical tools are here
deployed to scrutinize court scandals and decipher archival documents. Household
recipes, popular literary works and a variety of visual media are examined in the light
of contemporary sexual culture and contextualized with reference to current social and
political issues. The essays in this volume reveal the central importance of sexuality and
sexual metaphor for our understanding of European history, politics and culture, and
emphasize the extent to which erotic presuppositions underpinned the early modern
world.
Sara F. Matthews-Grieco is Professor of History and Coordinator of
Women’s & Gender Studies at Syracuse University in Florence, Italy.
She is also the editor of Erotic Cultures of Renaissance Italy.
Cuckoldry, Impotence
and Adultery in Europe
(15th–17th century)
Edited by Sara F. Matthews-Grieco
R
O Routledge
U
T
L
E Taylor & Francis Group
D
G
ELONDON AND NEW YORK
First published2014 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © Sara F. Matthews-Grieco and the contributors 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
Sara F. Matthews-Grieco has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the editor of this work.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Cuckoldry, impotence and adultery in Europe, 15th–17th century / edited by Sara F. Matthews-
Grieco.
pages cm. -- (Visual culture in early modernity)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4724-1439-7 (hardcover: alk. paper) 1. Cuckolds—Europe—History. 2. Impotence—
Europe—History. 3. Adultery—Europe—History. I. Matthews Grieco, Sara F.
HQ806.C83 2014
306.73094—dc23
2014017416
ISBN 9781472414397 (hbk)
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
List of Contributors xiii
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction: Sexual Transgression as Social Metaphor 1
Sara F. Matthews-Grieco
Part I: DefameD BuIlDIngs anD shameD BoDIes
1 Adultery, Cuckoldry and House-Scorning in Florence:
The Case of Bianca Cappello 11
Jacqueline Marie Musacchio
2 Vincenzo Gonzaga and the Body Politic: Impotence and
Virility at Court 35
Molly Bourne
3 Historical and Literary Contexts for the Skimmington:
Impotence and Samuel Butler’s Hudibras 59
M. A. Katritzky
Part II: ImPotenCe, magIC anD meDICIne
4 Impotence, Witchcraft and Politics: A Renaissance Case 85
Matteo Duni
5 The Satyr in the Kitchen Pantry 103
Laura Giannetti
6 Impotence and Corruption: Sexual Function and Dysfunction
in Early Modern Italian Books of Secrets 125
Meredith K. Ray
vi Cuckoldry, Impotence and Adultery in Europe (15th–17th century)
Part III: horns anD VIsual InnuenDo
7 “Divine cuckolds”: Joseph and Vulcan in Renaissance Art
and Literature 149
Francesca Alberti
8 Niklaus Manuel and Urs Graf: Cuckolds, Impotence
and Sex Workers in Swiss Renaissance Art (c. 1510–1517) 183
Christiane Andersson
9 The Cuckoldries of Baccio del Bianco 215
Louise Rice
10 Picart’s Browbeaten Husbands in 17th-Century France:
Cuckoldry in Context 249
Sara F. Matthews-Grieco
Index 291
list of Illustrations
Color Plates 8 Tintoretto, Venus, Vulcan and Cupid,
c. 1550–1552, oil on canvas, 85 × 197.4
1 Master Francke, Adoration of the
cm, Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti,
Magi fragment of the Saint Thomas altar,
Florence (photo: Polo Museale di
c. 1424, tempera on oak, 99 × 89.3 cm,
Firenze)
Kunsthalle, Hamburg
2 Simone dei Crocifissi, Nativity of 9 Tintoretto, Vulcan surprising Venus
Christ, c. 1380, tempera on wood, 47 × and Mars, c. 1548, oil on canvas, 135
25 cm, Uffizi Gallery, Florence × 198 cm, Munich, Alte Pinakothek
3 Frans Floris, The Holy Family, 16th (inv. 9257) (photo: Bayerische
century, oil on panel, 132 × 166 cm, Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte
Musée de la Chartreuse, Douai, inv. Pinakothek München)
2796 (photo: Hugo Maertens)
10 Annibale Carracci, Parody of
4 Strasbourg artist, Joseph’s Doubts,
Tintoretto’s Annunciation in the Scuola di
c. 1482, Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame,
San Rocco, pen and brown ink, 11.5 × 18.8
Strasbourg, © Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-
cm, Royal Library, Windsor Castle (inv.
Dame de Strasbourg (photo: N. Fussler)
1841) (photo: Royal Collection Trust,
5 Artist of the School of Schongauer, © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2012)
Adoration of the Magi, c. 1475, Musée
d’Unterlinden, Colmar (© Musée 11 Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, Venus,
Unterlinden, Colmar, France) c. 1512, chiaroscuro drawing, 31.4
× 21.7 cm, Kunstmuseum Basel,
6 Taddeo Gaddi, Marriage of the Virgin,
Kupferstichkabinett (photo: Martin P.
c. 1328–1330, fresco, Florence, Santa
Bühler)
Croce, Baroncelli Chapel
7 Master of Flémalle (Robert Campin), 12 Niklaus Manuel Deutsch,
The Mérode Altarpiece, c. 1427, oil on Allegory on the Transitoriness of
wood, 64.5 × 27 cm; 64 × 63 cm; 64.5 × 28 Luck in War, pen in black ink with
cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, watercolor on parchment, 31 × 21.3 cm,
The Cloisters Collection, New York City Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen
(1956 [56.70]) zu Berlin (inv. 4287)
viii Cuckoldry, Impotence and Adultery in Europe (15th–17th century)
Black and White Figures of Art, The Cloisters Collection, New
York (1956 [56.70])
7 “Divine Cuckolds”: Joseph and
Vulcan in Renaissance Art 7.9 Giovanni da Asola, Adoration of the
and Literature Shepherds, c. 1516–1520, oil on panel, 280
× 190 cm, Asola, Sant’Andrea Cathedral
7.1 Master Francke, Adoration of the
Magi fragment of the Saint Thomas altar, 7.10 Enea Vico (after Parmigianino),
c. 1424, tempera on oak, 99 × 89.3 cm, Venus and Mars with Vulcan, 1543,
Kunsthalle, Hamburg engraving, 20.6 × 37.6 cm, The British
Museum, London (© The Trustees of
7.2 Simone dei Crocifissi, Nativity of
the British Museum)
Christ, c. 1380, tempera on wood,
47 × 25 cm, Uffizi Gallery, Florence
7.11 Attributed to Jacob of Strasbourg,
“Revelation of Venus’s adultery by
7.3 Frans Floris, The Holy Family, 16th
Apollo and Vulcan’s subsequent capture
century, oil on panel, 132 × 166 cm,
of the couple,” Giovanni Bonsignori,
Musée de la Chartreuse, Douai (inv.
Ovidio metamorphoseos vulgare
2796) (photo: Hugo Maertens)
(Lucantonio Giunta, Venezia, 1497
7.4 Strasbourg artist, Joseph’s Doubts, [second edition 1501, IIII–XXVIII]),
c. 1482, Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame, woodcut, 29.7 × 20.3 cm, The
Strasbourg (© Musée de l’Œuvre Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
Notre-Dame de Strasbourg) (photo: N. York, Rogers Fund, 1922 (22.16)
Fussler) (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
7.5 Master of the View of Sainte-
7.12 Tintoretto, Venus, Vulcan and
Gudule, Annunciation, c. 1480. Musées
Cupid, c. 1550–1552, oil on canvas, 85
Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
× 197.4 cm, Galleria Palatina, Palazzo
(© Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts de
Pitti, Florence (photo: Polo Museale
Belgique, Bruxelles) (photo: Institut
di Firenze)
royal du Patrimoine artistique)
7.13 Tintoretto, Vulcan surprising
7.6 Artist of the School of Schongauer,
Venus and Mars, c. 1548, oil on canvas,
Adoration of the Magi, c. 1475, Musée
135 × 198 cm, Munich, Alte Pinakothek
d’Unterlinden, Colmar (© Musée
(inv. 9257) (photo: Bayerische
Unterlinden, Colmar, France)
Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte
7.7 Taddeo Gaddi, Marriage of the Pinakothek München)
Virgin, c. 1328–1330, fresco. Florence,
7.14 Annibale Carracci, Parody of
Santa Croce, Baroncelli Chapel
Tintoretto’s Annunciation in the Scuola di
7.8 Master of Flémalle (Robert San Rocco, pen and brown ink,
Campin), The Mérode Altarpiece, c. 1427, 11.5 × 18.8 cm, Royal Library, Windsor
oil on wood, 64.5 × 27 cm; 64 × 63 cm; Castle (inv. 1841) (Royal Collection Trust,
64.5 × 28 cm, The Metropolitan Museum © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2012)
