«Le magnificenze di Giovanni Visconti vescovo di Novara». Arte e celebrazione nell’inserimento della Chiesa milanese nell’orbita viscontea (1331-1342)
- Autores: Alberto Cadili
- Localización: Nuova rivista storica, ISSN 0029-6236, Vol. 99, Nº. 1, 2015, págs. 23-76
- Idioma: italiano
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Resumen
After a struggle with the Papacy (1317-29), the Visconti family starts a period of peace, which goes up to 1341. In 1331 the Pope elects John Visconti to the bishopric of Novara (1331-1342) and gives him the administration in temporalibus of the diocese of Milan (while archbishop Aicardo remains in exile). John, who was lord of Milan since 1339 together with his brother Luchino, becomes archbishop in 1342. During the 1330s he builds the new “magnificent” archbishop’s palace of Milan. Why do these things happen while the archbishop is still alive? The essay, facing the different interpretations of the Visconti’s ecclesiastical policy, focuses on a decay (1331-42) full of religious initiatives and artistic patronages, among which there is the archbishop’s palace. John, thanks to these activities, clearly presents every innovation in this field as a result of the lordship of the dynasty. While Azzo builds a realm for himself, John, as ecclesiastical lord, competes in magnificence with the Avignonese curia. The chronicler Galvano Fiamma and other authors suggest several theories, which are based on Aristotle’s prescriptions and represent an explication ex post. More properly, the magnificentia, i.e. a sort of “lordly aesthetics”, is a need of the lordly power, rather an essential part of such authority.
