拍品專文
These would have included, according to the working practices of the Galleria, hardstone cutters, cabinet-makers, bronze casters and gilders, as well as those artists who executed models for the statuettes, such, as in this case, Ticciati, or the clock, the Workshop heads and all those administrators whose task it was to oversee both the general execution and the realisation of every detail. As this Cabinet was the largest piece of furniture produced in the Grand Ducal Workshops in its entire history- the Cabinet executed for Ferdinand II measures 212 cm. in height, that of Elector Palatine 280 cm.- the great amount of work inherent in its realisation would account for the delays in consignment which Guernieri so bitterly lamented.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE CABINET AND COMPARABLE EXAMPLES
The crowning element of the Beaufort Cabinet, in the form of an aedicule carrying the Ducal arms, calls to mind a similar solution found on Ferdinand II's cabinet of about 1650, now in the Tribuna of the Uffizi. Nearer in time, an even closer parallel can be drawn between it and the crowning feature of a cabinet in ebony and ivory executed by Adamo Suster and Vittorio Crosten to Foggini's specifications between 1704 and 1716 (fig. 2). With the exception of the central niche, an almost identical architectural framework to that of the Beaufort Cabinet, consisting of a higher middle section articulated by pilasters with, above, a lower secondary register whose pilasters carry bronze festoons, the whole being crowned by a square aedicule, is found on the Elector Palatine's cabinet of 1709 in the Palazzo Pitti (fig. 3). These similarities apply only to the cabinets themselves, and not to the bases which in every case are different. The legs of the base of the Beaufort Cabinet take the form of reversed obelisks which are to be found, although with triangular section, on a table in Palazzo Pitti, executed in 1716 in the Galleria, probably to Foggini's designs (fig. 4). The surfaces of the legs of both are veneered with panels of hardstone, although the Beaufort piece lacks the chutes whose inclusion would, perhaps, have given an impression of heaviness to the whole, especially as the apron already bears rich bronze ornament. Similar legs are found on a pair of tables, now in the Prado, executed in the Real Laboratorio delle Pietre Dure in Naples, which was founded by Charles III after the end of the Medici dynasty, with craftsmen of Florentine origin. They were directed by Francesco Ghinghi (1689-1762), a pupil of Foggini, who had worked in the Galleria dei lavori in Florence until 1737. In his autobiography (MS, Biblioteca Maruccelliana, Florence), Ghinghi claims to have known many 'Milordi Inglesi', and to have been highly regarded by them, during his years in Florence. Thus, the design of the Beaufort Cabinet, as well as that of the tables for the King of Naples, can be seen as the natural fulfilment of Foggini's ideas, although in two different centres. It should also be mentioned that at the time of the making of the Beaufort Cabinet, Foggini's position had been given to the sculptor Gioacchino Fortini (1673-1736) whose activity at the Galleria is still relatively obscure.
THE GILT-BRONZE DECORATION
The applied gilt-bronzes which lavishly cover this cabinet are of a surprising richness, and this opulence is, perhaps in part, the result of the direct intervention of the Duke of Beaufort's Florentine agent, Thomas Tyrrel, who as we have seen in Guernieri's letter of 9 July 1728, had given instructions to greatly increase their number (document 2). In fact, only the Elector Palatine's cabinet shows the same glittering abundance of gilt-bronzes. Futhermore, the Beaufort Cabinet displays a number of mounts, such as those outlining the base and covering the upper parts of the legs, or the female heads and garlands of the upper registers which are entirely new models, not to mention the heraldic elements, in this case fully rounded, that make up the coat-of-arms. Some bronzes can be compared to examples found on furniture and objects realised in the Galleria, but it must always be remembered that in every case we are dealing with unique ornaments, fashioned individually for each fo these pieces of furniture, destined to be owned, with few exceptions, by Royalty.
Festoons of fruit in hardstone pendent from grotesque masks are to be found at the sides of a clock made to Foggini's design some time before 1725 (A. González-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, Milan, 1986, I, pl. IX). Similar garlands supported by lion-masks are placed on the upper register of the Elector Palatine's cabinet (fig. 3a); while others, attached to female heads or simple ribbons, mark the corners of elaborate boxes, such as the one designed by Foggini and once owned by William Beckford, or the example now in Kassel (ibid, figs. 66, 67, 75 and 76). The same type of garland is also found on the sides of a clock in the Residenz, Munich, and adorning yet another, formerly in the possession of the Electress Palatine (ibid, figs. 104 and 99).
HARDSTONES
The panels in hardstone mosaic which embellish and, at the same time, cover the Cabinet are noteworthy both for their size and design. The three plaques positioned in the middle of the main register and at the sides are, in fact, among the largest known (60 cm. x 40.5 cm.), while the intricate invention of their design, showing a spray of flowers around which circle birds and butterflies, is particularly distinguished. The hardstone decoration of the Cabinet is not, however, limited to the mosaic panels, but in three-dimensional form is alos set into the gilt-bronze itself. For example, three lion-masks in chalcedony are centred on the main register and sides and eight delicate female heads enrich the capitals of the pilasters. An almost identical lion's head to those on this Cabinet is placed at the top of the arch in the centre of the Elector Palatine's Cabinet (fig. 3a), and another of the same type is found among the unused material from the Galleria dei Lavori, now in the Muso dell' Opificio dell pietre dure, (fig. 5). Like the Elector Palatine's cabinet, the Beaufort Cabinet shows semi-precious stones with a cabochon cut mounted with rich gilt-bronze scrolls. Similar detailing, as well as carved heads of like form to those on this Cabinet, is found on a box that belonged to Prince de Beauvau Craon, Governor of Tuscany after the death of the last Medici Grand Duke (fig. 6). Indeed, heads also, appear on the lower drawers of the Elector Palatine's Cabinet.
BACCIO CAPPELLI
After the sale of the Cabinet in 1990, it was restored at Hatfields in London. During this operation, finished in spring 1992, various inscriptions were found in the interior. These included two labels; the first is broken Italian which translates as 'Giacomo Faggioni, Head of the Household of the Duke of Beaufort has dismantled and cleaned the cabinet and put it back in order (Nov 7?) 1775- Badminton'. The second label reads as 'April 1903...London NW'. Additionally, the movement of clock bears the inscription 'John Seddon London 1748', indicating that this clockmaker replaced the movement at that date (Seddon was active between 1743-1752).
The most interesting discovery is the signature of a Florentine craftsman, Baccio Cappelli, to the reverse of two of the pietra dura panels of the Cabinet. We refer to the central panel and to the panel on the top left drawer. The first signature, etched to the reverse is 'Baccio Cappelli Fecit 1720 nell Galleria dell S.A.R'. The second, on the drawer is a label inscribed 'No. I Bacchio Cappelli Fecit '. On the latter, perhaps a fragmentary receipt, one can also read the date '16 April 1726 7 May 1726'. The latter date coincides- perhaps by chance- with the Duke of Beaufort's stay in Florence between 27 April and 2 May 1726.
However, in 1720, when Baccio Cappelli signed the large panel, the Duke was only 13 years old and there was no question yet of his Grand Tour. This demonstrates a well-known fact, that is to say, that it was common practice at the Galleria to keep aside pietra dura embellishments and panels to be used or sold at a convenient date, or to be incorporated in new objects or furnishings.
Baccio Cappelli was a member of one of those families that worked for generations at the Galleria. A Baccio Cappelli sr. was employed in the Grand Ducal workshops in the time of Cosimo II; An Antonio Cappelli was active under Ferdinand II. Our Baccio Cappelli was perhaps his son. He signed 'Baccio Cappelli fecit Anno 1709 Fiorenze' on the back of one of the panels that decorate a cabinet made in 1771 after a design by Robert Adam for the Duchess of Manchester, which was in the Castle of Kimbolton, Huntingdon, and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum (E. Harris, The Genius of Robert Adam, New Haven and London, 2001, p. 195). An octagonal plaque with the Annunciation in the Museo dell'Opificus delle Pietro dure signed by him and dated 1727 is quite similar in style to the present works. Cappelli is mentioned in the Historia Glytographica by A.F. Gori (Florence 1767), who specified that he was working under Grand Duke Gian Gastone (1723-1737), while Antonio Zobi wrongly reduces his activity to the reign of Grand Duke Francesco Stefano of Lorraine. As we have already seen Cappelli was already working in the Galleria in the early 18th Century, under Cosimo III (1670-1723). There are however other archival documents in Florence that mention him. In 1705, he commissioned two oval plaques of the Annunciation, and in 1708 part of a clock designed by Foggini. He was still working in the Galleria in 1746 and must have died around 1751.
The appearance of Cappelli's signatures and the date 1720 on the central panel could also suggest that the conception of a very large Cabinet had already begun long before the Duke's trip to Italy. The dimensions are in fact the first aspect that strikes one in this novel monument, which obviously includes some of the largest commessi ever made. It appears, that some of its panels, or at least two, already existed in 1720 and that the other embellishments, especially those in bronze, could have been designed in 1726. These gilt-bronze mounts caused the delay in the completion of the Cabinet lamented by Guernieri in a letter of 1728 (document 2). A letter of the English consul to Naples, Edward Allen, dated 7 December 1726, mentions that he had allowed Beaufort credit of a large sum of money, which was remitted to 'Mr Thomas Tyrrel Chamberlayn to the Great Duke of Tuscany for the purchase of a fine Cabinett, which the Duke saw, when he passed through Florence' (B. Ford and J. Ingamells, 1997, p. 68).
This letter may be a truthful rendering of events, although no other papers suggest the fact that the Cabinet already existed as mentioned. It is also rather improbable that 6 years were really required to complete the ormolu and other enrichments for the Cabinet if it already existed in 1726. The fact remains that the consul never saw the cabinet, which was finished in 1728 as Guernieri mentions (document 2) and the sumptuous piece did not leave Leghorn until 1732.
CLOCKS
The Beaufort Cabinet is today the only piece of furniture of this type with a clock, although the cabinet, currently untraced, which Grand Duke Cosimo III had made in the Galleria between 1680 and 1682 as a gift for the Duke of Alba had such a feature. It should also be noted that the elaborate cresting with the Beaufort coat-of-arms is fully three-dimensional, like that on Ferdinand II's cabinet, while the heraldic elements on the Elector Palatine's cabinet are, instead, in half relief and applied to the wooden structure. Other clock faces in hardstone were produced in the Galleria at this time, and it is common to find fleurs-de-lys placed among the numerals as on this cabinet. It is probable that they refer generically to Florence, of which they are the emblem, and not, in this particular case, to the Beaufort coat-of-arms. Few clockmakers who worked in the the Grand Ducal Workshops are known by name. The names of two are known to us: Ignazio Hugford, who signed the movement of a pendulum clock in ebony and gilt-metal, now in Palazzo Pitti (Hugford is also mentioned in relation to a clock in hardstone made at the Galleria in 1705, but his name had, however, already appeared by 1695); and Francesco Papillon, who was registered in the Arte degli orologiai in Florence in 1705, and signed a movement for a pendulum clock in ebony and hardstone, as well as others with simpler cases.
DRAWINGS OF THE CABINET
Three watercolour drawings, probably executed to facilitate the reassembling of the Cabinet without any error for the position of the drawers, from the archives at Badminton, are to be sold with the cabinet. Before examining these sheets, it must be said that this cabinet is constructed with ingenious simplicity, consisting of four superimposed sections one above the other, easily taken apart in spite of the great weight of each (with the base these made up the contents of the five cases recorded in the shipping papers). This denotes great ability on the part of the joiner who oversaw the construction of the carcase, and this same capacity was demonstrated by the cabinet-maker responsible for the external work and the superb drawers veneered with richly figured purpleheart, hidden behind the central door.
These drawings were evidently prepared at the Galleria dei lavori, as the measurements are given in 'Scala di braccia due à Panno Fiorentine'. The sheet with one of the legs is inscribed in French, 'Celle icy est la Boulle de cuivre doré que l'on pourrá ajouter si l'on veut', which would appear to indicate instructions for reassemblage and follows exactly the real thing. The drawings on the front and sides show fewer bronze mounts than those found on the actual Cabinet. One is, therefore, inclined to the opinion that they were executed before the Cabinet was completely finished. It is not impossibly that the present mounts are those enrichments referred to in the letter of 9 July 1728 (document 2). Let us examine these additions in the light of the drawings: a large bow, centred by a shell was added to the coat-of-arms, while the statuettes on the crowning feature in the drawing do not correspond to any of Ticciati's models. The small pilasters on either side of the clock were first planned in red jasper, but carried out in lapis, and ornaments in the form of grotesque and femal heads, with garlands in gilt-bronze were superimposed on the pilasters of the two registers without, however, changing the original veneer in amethyst. The drawing does not show the semi-precious stones with the cabochon and gilt-bronze mounts found on the central amethyst border.
A CABINET AND OTHER ACQUISITIONS IN ROME
It was only in 1942 that modern study and appreciation of the Beaufort Cabinet can be said to begin with a long essay entitled 'The Red Folder', written by Sir Osbert Sitwell at H.M. Queen Mary's instance and published in The Burlington Magazine in April and May of that year. Sir Osbert's study is also much more: it laid the foundations for an understanding of the 3rd Duke who, even today, is not as well known as he should be, given his great importance as a patron of the Arts. Henry Somerset was born in 1707, and at the tender age of seven succeeded to his father's title and great riches. He left early for the Continent, stopping for some long time in Paris before settling for Italy. As has been mentioned above, he was in Florence early in 1726 and then and before went to Rome and other Italian cities, where he remained at length. The young Duke's social and political rank enabled him to frequent men of the highest position in the various Italian states through which he passed. We know from the letters published in the Appendix that Beaufort was an intimate of that powerful manipulator of kings and nations, Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, but, at the same time, was also friendly with Cardinal Alessandro Albani, nephew of Clement XI who had died in 1721. He also frequented Cardinal Lercari from whom he either acquired or was given a statue. A native of Genoa, Nicola-Maria Lercari (1675-1757) had been elevated to the cardinalate by the Pope, Benedict XIII, in 1726, the year of Beaufort's visit to the Eternal City. Lercari was also the Pope's secretary of State and a great friend and protector of the Arts. It is not clear why Beaufort had such close contacts wit these highly placed dignitaries and officials of a Religion which was not his own. However, his great uncle, the Duke of Ormonde, had strong sympathies for the Church of Rome, and the family, as a whole, did nothing to hide their Jacobite sentiments.
These were the keys which opened many doors for the young Beaufort in Catholic Italy, and so it was that his movements were closely watched by one of the most attentive observers of early eighteenth-century Rome, Francesco Valesio. On two distinct occasions, this prolific diarist records events which had the 3rd Duke at their centre. On 14 May 1726 he wrote that is was general knowledge that the 'Duca di Beofort' (sic) had had a private talk with the King of England, as the Old Pretender was called in Rome. A few months later, on 23 November, Valesio noted 'the 'duca di Beofort', a young English gentleman belonging to one the richest and most powerful families of that nation, had had another Englishman, who was the natural son of one of his uncles, beaten up. He (i.e. Beaufort) is living in the house of the Cavaliere Guarnieri, a stuccoist who had also been the architect of the Prince of Hesse. It is the last house next to the park of the Ludovisi family asone makes ones way to the Porta Pinciana' (F. Valesio, Diario di Roma, ed. by G. Scano and G. Graglia, Milan, 1978, IV. pp. 670 and 747).
It is not known who advised this distinguished Grand Tourist on his artistic purchases, but Willam Philips, his tutor and friend who was later to turn against him, most likely had a part in them. Be that as it may, the Duke spent large sums- almost five thousand pounds- on important pictures by Claude, Salvator Rosa, Carlo Maratta, Pietro da Cortona, Reni and Poussin, as well as others, with hight sounding attributions to Leonardo and Raphael. It remains to be asked if the Duke's acquisitions were in any way influenced by that much talked about and ambiguous persone, Baron Philip von Stosch. It is well-known that Stosch was not only one of the major eighteenth-century connoisseurs of the Antique, but also earned his living for a spy for the English Government, paying particular attention to all that went on at the Court of the Old Pretender in Palazzo Muti. In a number of his dispatches for 1726 to his superiors in London, he referred, perhaps enviously to three thousand crowns and more that the Duke had already spen on pictures and sculpture, and spoke of his zealous efforts to findout what the Old Pretender had said to the younger man during their audience. (L. Lewis, Connoisseurs and Secret Agents in Eighteenth Century Rome, London, 1961, passim). It remains, however, to be established if in this instance Stosch was writing as faithful informant of as a disappointed dealer who has not shared the windfall. We know that the Duke did frequent, in the person of Francesco de' Ficoroni, another of those scholarly antiquarian-dealers who were such a feature of eighteenth-century Rome (document 12) and who is remebered today as the then owner of one of the greatest masterpieces of Etruscan art.
A decisive voice in all the negociations leading up the Duke's purchases was that of Giovanni Francesco Guernieri, who owned a palace near the Porta Pinciana, where Beaufort stayed as a paying guest. An architect and stuccoist, Guernieri was born in Rome in 1665 (U. Thieme and F. Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler, Leipzig, 1922, vol. 15, p. 235 and A. Holtmeyer, Zeitscrift F. Geseh. d. Architektur, 1909, III, p. 249ff). At the age of thirty, he contributed to the decoration of the Altar of S. Ignatius in the Gesù, Rome, before going to Germany where he entered the service of the Landgrave of Hesse at Kassel. There he was responsible for many important works, and in 1711 married a German woman by whom he had two daughters. In 1715 Guernieri was in Düsseldorf, working for the Elector Palatine. Returning to Rome, he built himself a palace, and was elected member of the Virtuosi del Pantheon. Although little is, as yet, known about his professional activity in the Papal city, it would seem likely that Guernieri designed for the Duke the 'closet' which will be discussed shorly. After his death in 1745, his widow continued to run the osrt of luxurious hotel which her husband had set up in their home. The standing that Guernieri had earned for himself with the powerful can be seen from the fact that, in 1765, twenty years after his death, Cardinal Alessandro Albani wrote to Sir Horace Mann, English Resident in Florence, asking for his help for the widow. In his letter, the cardinal affirmed that: 'for may years English gentleman who came to Rome had lodged with the Chevalier Guarnieri, who seemed to have build his house especially for them, with...the best air in town...and very suitable furniture' (Lewis, ibid, p. 226).
Unfortunatly, Sir Osbert's meritorious research was not without its mistakes, due to an erroneous reading of the documents at Badminton, resulting from incorrect translation of the originals in an extremely complicated Italian and Cavalier Guernieri's indescribably French. It has led to this great masterpiece of the Galleria dei lavori of the Grand Duke of Tuscany being confused, even today, with a work of an altogether different nature, which was made in Rome. We are referring to what Guernieri called a 'cabinet'. The use of the word, which in French may mean either a piece of furniture or a small room, prompted Sir Osbert to suppose that it referred to the Beaufort Cabinet itself. However, one has only to read Guernieri's letters of 3 June and 9 July 1728 (documents 1 and 2) carefully to understand that this is not the case. It is true that in the first letter, Guernieri stated that the 'cabinet est enfin acheve' but he added that it was to be packed in ninety-six cases. He then stated a number of details that make it quite clear that he was not talking about a piece of furniture. For example, he mentions the existence of over-doors, deux ovales dessus les portes, and the fact that la pierre des yeaux du haut du Cabinet had not been cut. Now it is unthinkable that the Beaufort Cabinet would have been sent with any of its stones not completely worked, especially as we are not discussing a miracle of Florentine craftsmanship. More to the point, the mysterious pierre des yeaux is not a hardstone at all, but a marble. It is a type of onyx, called alabastro a occhi in Italian, and can be cut with relative east, like all alabaster. Anyway, in early eighteenth-century England, there were no artisans capable of working hardstone, while there may have been marble masons adept at finishing a sheet of alabaster. And, in faxt, Guernieri never mentions hardstones, only marbles, explaining that they came from archaeological sites belonging to the Farnese or Sacchetti families.
The latter possessed a residence outside of Rome at Castelfusano, near Ostia and not far from the ruins of Pliny's villa. Finally, when Guernieri speaks of the nobles and connoiseurs 'de cette ville' who found the Duke's 'cabinet' 'un ouvrage exquis et parfait', he is obviously referring to inhabitants of Rome, not Florence, as he was writing from the former city. All of the above receives further confirmation in Guernieri's second letter (document 2). There he describes the shipment of the Cabinet, which by a slip of the pen he makes plural. Taken together Cabinet and packing cases weighed the grand total of 240,000 livres, or 90 English tonnellées. It is plainly impossible that the Beaufort Cabinet, however large it may be, filled ninety-three cases or weighed so much.
Guernieri then goes on to offer yet mroe details which make it clear that he is talking about an entire room and not just a piece of furniture. For example, he states that he has included a plan of the whole where the position of the doors and windows are marked, and further specifies that they are to be of wood and set into the walls in such a way as not to be seen. (It seems superflous to note that the Beaufort Cabinet has neither doors nor windows, nor does it need to be set into a wall, being free-standing). Guernieri also warns against exposing the marbles to the sun as they might, thus, be damaged. He never once mentions hardstones, which, incidentally, are not affected by the sun's rays. Lastly, Guernieri asserts that the Cabinet packed in Rome in ninety-six cases was a 'nouvelle invention, inventée à Rome', a definition which in no way applies to the Beaufort Cabinet.
If all this were not sufficient, Guernieri records in the letter the existence of an object being made in Florence for Beaufort under Thomas Tyrrel's supervision. The first mention on 3 July is rather vague, but the second of 9 July is extremenly precise. Guernieri, in fact, writes of a 'petit cabinet' under construction in the Gallerie de S.A.R.G. Duc de Toscane'. One should not be deceived by the term 'petit cabinet' applied to a piece of furniture, like the Cabinet, of monumental proportions, but that Guernieri used the same word to describe the entire room that he had had made in Rome. Bearing this in mind, the significance of the adjective petit becomes clear. A further document established beyond any doubt and for all time the difference between the two cabinets. It takes the form of a list in Italian of all the moneys paid out by a Giovanni Angelo Belloni on the Duke's behalf (document 4). On 23 June 1728 the marble mason Francesco Tedeschi was paid 'per tutti li marmi fabricati, e lavorati per il Gabinetto de S.E.' This artisan, perhaps of German origin- in Guernieri's account kept in French (document 5) he is, in fact, called called François Allemand- is, therefore, the author of that singular 'closet' or Gabinetto, a term meaning in Italian a room and never a piece of furniture. The same accounts also contain the name of the man who busied himself 'facento i cassoni per incassare le Pietre di marmo', one Francesco Santi, carpenter of the cases for the shipment of the marbles and not the author of 'cassoni inlaid with marble' as Sir Osbert supposed because of a mistaken translation from the Italian. Lucy Abel-Smith has established that these marbles were never used to erect a marble room at Badminton, the reasons for which remain unclear. Some of these marbles have been identified in the church at Badminton, which was demolished by the 5th Duke in 1783. They are large oval panels, decorated with the Beaufort crest and interlaced Bs inserted in the floor of the chapel of the first Duchess of Beaufort (op. cit. p. 28).
THE ALBERONI SARCOPHAGUS
In the documents from the Badminton archive, published in the Appendix, there is mention, on more than one occasion, of an 'urn' which the Duke had received as a gift from Cardinal Alberoni. On 3 June 1728, Guernieri informed his paton that he had had difficulty in obtaining an export licence because Cardinal Albani had no intention of letting such an important object leave the Papal States, especially as it washeld in great esteem by Roman connoisseurs of the Antique (document 2). However, two further documents (4 and 5) list the expenses incurred for the transport of the 'urn' from Alberoni's vineyard, for taxes at Customs, and for the construction of a packing case, while yet another (document 7), states that the case marked with the number 53 on the ship which transported Beaufort's marbles to Bristol contained this 'urn' and gives it approximate measurements. The 'urn' is again mentioned in Guernieri's last letter. It is obvious that this object was of great importance both in itself and as an indication of its owner's antiquarian tastes. A.F. Gori, the celebrated Florentine scholar of the period, wrote that is was generally believed that the Duke had divided with Cardinals Albani and Polignac the contents of a colombarium discovered in Rome during his stay there, and that the urns and sarcopagi contained the remains of the servants and liberti of Livia. It appears that Beaufort later sold some of these marbles to the Earl of Pembroke who displayed them to great effect at Wilton (A. Michaelis, Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, Cambridge, 1882, pp. 61 and 669 where the reference is made to A.F. Gori's Monumentum libertorum Liviae Augustae, Florence, 1727). Beaufort's antiquarian tastes, therefore, prompted Alberoni who, during his years of relative disgrace, was always on the lookout for powerful friends, to make the young Milord Inglese a gift of this magnificent 'urn'. It remained for more than two centuries one of the most important objects at Badminton. In 1733, as is attested by an inscription (1733 HIC POS. M) on the back, the 'urn' was appropriately placed by Willam Kent in the grandiose North Hall on a base of four large marble balls, designed by the architect himself (fig. 7). There it remained until 1955 when it was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum, New York. This sarcophagus has always been considered one of the most important of the age of Septimius Severus, both for the extraordinary quality of the Bacchic scene and elegant cistern-like shape with the curved sides that, at various times, has given it the name of the Augustus Bath (A. M. McCann, Roman Sarcophagi in the Metropolitan Muesum of Art, New York, 1978, pp. 94-106).
It is possible from the above to form an idea of the omniverous collecting tastes of the 3rd Duke, who was interested in both quantity and quality. He bought something of everything and, although it is now difficult to appreciate the original impact of his acquisitions as a whole because many of them are no longer in situ, it would seem that Beaufort was among the wisest collectors of his day. In conclusion, it should be noted that furnishings, in the narrow sense of the word, did not escape his notice. A letter of 8 January 1728 states that he had bought more than a dozen table tops in coloured marbles, some of which are still at Badminton, as well as the'frame of a table guilt of monstrous size' (document 12). This last must refer to one of the bizarre and highly wrought table bases so characteristic of Roman Baroque furniture. Who knows where it is now? Some idea of what it looked like is given to us in a painting by Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A. (1802-1873) where the future 8th Duke of Beaufort is portrayed in front of this console, his head just slightly higher than its outlandish bulk (fig. 8).
Alvar González-Palacios
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to thank Kirsten Piacenti and Anna Maria Giusti of the Florentine Museums, Margaret Richards, the archivist at Badminton, Carlotta Melocchi, Filippo Tuena and Roberto Valeriani in Rome, Charles Cator, Amjad Rauf and Andrew Ciechanowiecki in London. Professor Antonio Guiliano of Rome University has provided useful information on the Alberoni sacophagus and Dr. Jennifer Montagu on the Ticciati bronzes. Donald Garstang has translated this text.
APPENDIX OF DOCUMENTS
All the documents are in the Badminton Muniments, Family Papers (The Red Folder) unless otherwise stated
I.
G. F. GUERNIERI TO THE DUKE, 3 JUNE 1728
je me donne l'honneur...faire savoir que son Cabinet est enfin achevé; je l'ay deja fait embarquer avec l'urne dont M. Le Cardinal Alberoni a fait present a V.E. et avec les onze pieces de tableau en mignature lesquelles l'ont eté consignêes partie par le S. Berettoni et partie par le S. Ange Belloni je les ay fait emballer avec soin en trois differentes caisses. Les caisses de marbre sont au nombre de 96...je parti pour fiumencino a fin de voir recharger les marbres sur deux tartanes de mer, j'ay voulu etre present a fin que toute chose soit rembarquée avec diligence pour eviter tout desordre dans le transport d'une barque a l'autre, sitot que l'embarquement sera achevé je partiray pour Livorne afin de veiller au chargement du vaisseau Anglois...afin qu'a l'ârivée de deux tartanes on puisse immediatement les decharger dans le susd. vaisseau...j'ay cru necessaire de faire le voyage de Livorne, j'ay averti...Le S. Thomas Tyrel de florence qu'il eut a mettre en ordre et duement enchasser les travaux pour V.E. et qu'il les envoye sans delay a Livorne, ce que a mon avis il aura deja ponctuellement execute; aussi tot apres mon arrivée a Livorne je rendray compte a V.E...
...je dois informer V.E. qu'on a dû laisser dans son plain la pierre des yeux du haut du Cabinet crainte qu'ils ne se rompissent; quand on les mettra en oeuvre le tailleur de pierre soit ouvrier en marbre pourra alors vuider la pierre et de cette maniere le tout ira bien on devra aussi faire de meme des deux ovales dessus les portes que pour la meme raison on a laissé dans leur plain...il seroit a propos quelle fit venir un des ouvriers qui ont travaillé aud. ouvrage afin qu'en...puisse poliment metre en oeuvre...il seroit besoin d'un polisseur qui peut proprement ajuster et unir ensemble toutes le pieces...J'ay mis dans une cassette des pieces des differentes sortes de marbre qu'on a employé pour le d. Cabinet afin que si par malheur un morceau venoit a se rompre on ait le moyen de retrouver du marbre de la meme qualité...Les marbres anciens sont dune tres grande beauté la pluts a eté acheté dans la Villa farnèse d'un temple de Neron et l'autre partie a Ostie dans le terriroire du Marquis Saquetti plusieurs de la Noblesse et des Connoisseurs de cette ville ont trouvé ce Cabinet d'un ouvrage exquis et parfait...Au sujet de L'urne je crois devoir informer V.E. que j'ay eu bien de la peine a obtenir de M Le Cardinal Albani la permission de la pouvoir embarquer. Ce Cardinal ne vouloit absolument permettre que cette urne sortit de Rome a cause quelle etoit deja imprimée et que les antiquaires de cette ville en faisoit beaucoup desteine.
Rome, 3 Juin 1728.
2.
G. F. GUERNIERI TO THE DUKE, 9 JULY 1728
J'ay I'honneur par la presente de presenter mes plus humbles devoirs à Son Excellence en luy donnant advis de toutte la negociation que j'ay fait a mon arrivée a Livorne, avec les marbres qui devoient estre embarqués sur le Navire appellé Marie Susanne, Capitaine Ezechiel Vass, Anglois, en premier lieu je suis arrivé à florence le 23 juin passé et d'abbord j'envoyait appeller monsieur Tommas Tyrrel, auquel V Ex:.ce a laissé la commission du petit cabinet qui se travaille dans u0 Gallerie de S.A.R. G.Duc de Toscane, dont led.t S.r Tyrrel m'a informé que le dit cabinet ne peut estre terminé que jusqu'à la fin du mois d'octobre prochain, par cette raison que le meme m'a apporté disant qu'il à fait changer plusieurs choses, et augmenté beaucoup d'autres travaux, tant de metail, des cornissages, comme de beaucoup de travail aux Armes, de Vôtre Excellence, et tout cela à causé ce retardement de tems; je n'ay pas manqué de faire des grandes instances au même pour I'obbliger à terminer au plus vitte le dit ouvrage . . .
Le Samedy au matin du 26.e passé j'arrivais à Livorne et je me portat d'abbort ches M. Jean Winder con consulter sur le Navire Anglois qui estoit dejà pret despuis 15. jours . . . les deux Navires sur les quels j'avois fait charger les Cabinets à Rome retarderent cinq jours par rapport à la tempeste de la mer, enfin ils sont arrivés a Livorne. . . on a commencée à les charger sur le Navire Anglois, on a visitté touttes les caisses pièce par pièce, il n'y à rien eû de gasché n'y de cassé, mais le tout en tres bon etat . . . (Le) Capitaine . . . n'avois pas eu des hommes pratiques à faire charger tous les marbres sur le Navire Anglois il seroit allé tres mal, attendu que le Capitaine du dit Navire n'avoit pas des gens cappables n'y pratiques dud.t chargement, et mon arrivé à eté tres utile; je dois donner advis à V Ex.ce qu'elle donne ordre en Engleterre, aû tous les marbres doivent estre deschargés qu'ils mettent des hommes pratiques. . .ayant des pieces assés grandes, lesquelles n'estant pas maniées, avec circonspection, et bien de soin facilement se pourroient casser . . . Quant au poid des Marbres, qu'on à donné en notte au Cap.ne du Navire je les ay to us mesuré moy méme . . . à fait Livres 240000 qui forment 90 tonnelleés à lusage Anglois. . . je reccommande. . . que les Marbres ne restent point exposés decouverts au soleil, et qu'ils soient mis en lieu couvert, attendu qu'ainsy sobserve la reigle d'un semblable ouvrage fin, de pierres rapportées de differentes Couleurs. Il m'a paru tres bien d'envoyer à v. Excell.e une plante du dit Cabinet pour marquer les portes, et fenetres de bois comme elles doivent estre mises affin qu'elles restent cachées dans les enfoncées des murailles, et que tout I'ouvrage de marbre se puisse voir sans qu'on connoisse, oû sont les portes de Bois, Nouvelle jnvention, inventée à Rome, suivant le dessein, et plante qu'est marqué de coulleur . . .Livorno, le 9e Juillet 1728
WINDER & AIKMAN TO ROBERT ARBUTHNOT, 24 JULY 1728
...please acquaint the Duke...that when the Cabinet & other things come to hand that Mr. Tyrrell is to send us from fflorence, which by what we can hear, will not be in these 3 months still, we shall ship them on some ship for London, if none should offer for Bristoll about time.
(Livorno), 24 July 1728.
4.
ACCOUNT FROM G. A. BELLONI FOR EXPENSES INCURRED BY G. F. GUERNIERI SENT TO ROBERT ARBUTHNOT
Sige Roberto Arbuthnot di Parigi deve dare per li seguenti pagamenti fatti con ordini del Sig. Gio. Francesco Guernieri per conto di S.E. il Sig. Duca di Beaufort
1728 11 mago Pagati al Sig. Pietro Berton (sic) Pittore per resto, e saldo di . . . otto quadretti e altri tre paesi . . .
(detto) Pagati a Francesco Santi Falegname . . . cassoni che va facendo per incassare le Pietre di Marmo . . .
(detto) Pagati a Bartolomeo Guidotti portinaro di Porta Portese per gabella del passo di tutti li Marmi spettanti al sudetto Sig. Duca per mandarli a Livorno . . .
5 giugo Pagati a Gio Paolo Montani Ministro della Dogana di Ripa per la Gabella del 'estrazzione. . . sigilli et altro sopra le casse de' Marmi et urna, imbarcati per Livorno . . .
(detto) Pagati a Francesco Tedeschi Mastro Scarpellino per suo rimborso di diverse spese fatte per il trasporto de sudetti Marmi . . . compreso le spese per la sudetta urna
23 giugo Pagati a Franco Tedeschi Mastro Scarpellino per resto, e saldo del prezzo che fu concordato da S.E. il Sig. Duca di (scudi) 4400 mta per tutti li marmi fabricati, e lavorati per il Gabinetto di S.E... .
(detto) Pagati al sudetto Tedeschi per suo rimborso di mancie date a' diversi scarpel lini . . . (detto) Pagati a Cherardo de Vo ferraro . . . per le casse de sudetti marmi . . .
23 giugo Pagati al Sig. Gio. Franco Guernieri...per servisene per il viaggio da Roma a Livorno per assitere all'imbarco de sudetti Marmi per Inghilterra, e suo ritorno à Roma...
(Undated, signed by) Gio. Ang. Belloni.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE CABINET AND COMPARABLE EXAMPLES
The crowning element of the Beaufort Cabinet, in the form of an aedicule carrying the Ducal arms, calls to mind a similar solution found on Ferdinand II's cabinet of about 1650, now in the Tribuna of the Uffizi. Nearer in time, an even closer parallel can be drawn between it and the crowning feature of a cabinet in ebony and ivory executed by Adamo Suster and Vittorio Crosten to Foggini's specifications between 1704 and 1716 (fig. 2). With the exception of the central niche, an almost identical architectural framework to that of the Beaufort Cabinet, consisting of a higher middle section articulated by pilasters with, above, a lower secondary register whose pilasters carry bronze festoons, the whole being crowned by a square aedicule, is found on the Elector Palatine's cabinet of 1709 in the Palazzo Pitti (fig. 3). These similarities apply only to the cabinets themselves, and not to the bases which in every case are different. The legs of the base of the Beaufort Cabinet take the form of reversed obelisks which are to be found, although with triangular section, on a table in Palazzo Pitti, executed in 1716 in the Galleria, probably to Foggini's designs (fig. 4). The surfaces of the legs of both are veneered with panels of hardstone, although the Beaufort piece lacks the chutes whose inclusion would, perhaps, have given an impression of heaviness to the whole, especially as the apron already bears rich bronze ornament. Similar legs are found on a pair of tables, now in the Prado, executed in the Real Laboratorio delle Pietre Dure in Naples, which was founded by Charles III after the end of the Medici dynasty, with craftsmen of Florentine origin. They were directed by Francesco Ghinghi (1689-1762), a pupil of Foggini, who had worked in the Galleria dei lavori in Florence until 1737. In his autobiography (MS, Biblioteca Maruccelliana, Florence), Ghinghi claims to have known many 'Milordi Inglesi', and to have been highly regarded by them, during his years in Florence. Thus, the design of the Beaufort Cabinet, as well as that of the tables for the King of Naples, can be seen as the natural fulfilment of Foggini's ideas, although in two different centres. It should also be mentioned that at the time of the making of the Beaufort Cabinet, Foggini's position had been given to the sculptor Gioacchino Fortini (1673-1736) whose activity at the Galleria is still relatively obscure.
THE GILT-BRONZE DECORATION
The applied gilt-bronzes which lavishly cover this cabinet are of a surprising richness, and this opulence is, perhaps in part, the result of the direct intervention of the Duke of Beaufort's Florentine agent, Thomas Tyrrel, who as we have seen in Guernieri's letter of 9 July 1728, had given instructions to greatly increase their number (document 2). In fact, only the Elector Palatine's cabinet shows the same glittering abundance of gilt-bronzes. Futhermore, the Beaufort Cabinet displays a number of mounts, such as those outlining the base and covering the upper parts of the legs, or the female heads and garlands of the upper registers which are entirely new models, not to mention the heraldic elements, in this case fully rounded, that make up the coat-of-arms. Some bronzes can be compared to examples found on furniture and objects realised in the Galleria, but it must always be remembered that in every case we are dealing with unique ornaments, fashioned individually for each fo these pieces of furniture, destined to be owned, with few exceptions, by Royalty.
Festoons of fruit in hardstone pendent from grotesque masks are to be found at the sides of a clock made to Foggini's design some time before 1725 (A. González-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, Milan, 1986, I, pl. IX). Similar garlands supported by lion-masks are placed on the upper register of the Elector Palatine's cabinet (fig. 3a); while others, attached to female heads or simple ribbons, mark the corners of elaborate boxes, such as the one designed by Foggini and once owned by William Beckford, or the example now in Kassel (ibid, figs. 66, 67, 75 and 76). The same type of garland is also found on the sides of a clock in the Residenz, Munich, and adorning yet another, formerly in the possession of the Electress Palatine (ibid, figs. 104 and 99).
HARDSTONES
The panels in hardstone mosaic which embellish and, at the same time, cover the Cabinet are noteworthy both for their size and design. The three plaques positioned in the middle of the main register and at the sides are, in fact, among the largest known (60 cm. x 40.5 cm.), while the intricate invention of their design, showing a spray of flowers around which circle birds and butterflies, is particularly distinguished. The hardstone decoration of the Cabinet is not, however, limited to the mosaic panels, but in three-dimensional form is alos set into the gilt-bronze itself. For example, three lion-masks in chalcedony are centred on the main register and sides and eight delicate female heads enrich the capitals of the pilasters. An almost identical lion's head to those on this Cabinet is placed at the top of the arch in the centre of the Elector Palatine's Cabinet (fig. 3a), and another of the same type is found among the unused material from the Galleria dei Lavori, now in the Muso dell' Opificio dell pietre dure, (fig. 5). Like the Elector Palatine's cabinet, the Beaufort Cabinet shows semi-precious stones with a cabochon cut mounted with rich gilt-bronze scrolls. Similar detailing, as well as carved heads of like form to those on this Cabinet, is found on a box that belonged to Prince de Beauvau Craon, Governor of Tuscany after the death of the last Medici Grand Duke (fig. 6). Indeed, heads also, appear on the lower drawers of the Elector Palatine's Cabinet.
BACCIO CAPPELLI
After the sale of the Cabinet in 1990, it was restored at Hatfields in London. During this operation, finished in spring 1992, various inscriptions were found in the interior. These included two labels; the first is broken Italian which translates as 'Giacomo Faggioni, Head of the Household of the Duke of Beaufort has dismantled and cleaned the cabinet and put it back in order (Nov 7?) 1775- Badminton'. The second label reads as 'April 1903...London NW'. Additionally, the movement of clock bears the inscription 'John Seddon London 1748', indicating that this clockmaker replaced the movement at that date (Seddon was active between 1743-1752).
The most interesting discovery is the signature of a Florentine craftsman, Baccio Cappelli, to the reverse of two of the pietra dura panels of the Cabinet. We refer to the central panel and to the panel on the top left drawer. The first signature, etched to the reverse is 'Baccio Cappelli Fecit 1720 nell Galleria dell S.A.R'. The second, on the drawer is a label inscribed 'N
However, in 1720, when Baccio Cappelli signed the large panel, the Duke was only 13 years old and there was no question yet of his Grand Tour. This demonstrates a well-known fact, that is to say, that it was common practice at the Galleria to keep aside pietra dura embellishments and panels to be used or sold at a convenient date, or to be incorporated in new objects or furnishings.
Baccio Cappelli was a member of one of those families that worked for generations at the Galleria. A Baccio Cappelli sr. was employed in the Grand Ducal workshops in the time of Cosimo II; An Antonio Cappelli was active under Ferdinand II. Our Baccio Cappelli was perhaps his son. He signed 'Baccio Cappelli fecit Anno 1709 Fiorenze' on the back of one of the panels that decorate a cabinet made in 1771 after a design by Robert Adam for the Duchess of Manchester, which was in the Castle of Kimbolton, Huntingdon, and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum (E. Harris, The Genius of Robert Adam, New Haven and London, 2001, p. 195). An octagonal plaque with the Annunciation in the Museo dell'Opificus delle Pietro dure signed by him and dated 1727 is quite similar in style to the present works. Cappelli is mentioned in the Historia Glytographica by A.F. Gori (Florence 1767), who specified that he was working under Grand Duke Gian Gastone (1723-1737), while Antonio Zobi wrongly reduces his activity to the reign of Grand Duke Francesco Stefano of Lorraine. As we have already seen Cappelli was already working in the Galleria in the early 18th Century, under Cosimo III (1670-1723). There are however other archival documents in Florence that mention him. In 1705, he commissioned two oval plaques of the Annunciation, and in 1708 part of a clock designed by Foggini. He was still working in the Galleria in 1746 and must have died around 1751.
The appearance of Cappelli's signatures and the date 1720 on the central panel could also suggest that the conception of a very large Cabinet had already begun long before the Duke's trip to Italy. The dimensions are in fact the first aspect that strikes one in this novel monument, which obviously includes some of the largest commessi ever made. It appears, that some of its panels, or at least two, already existed in 1720 and that the other embellishments, especially those in bronze, could have been designed in 1726. These gilt-bronze mounts caused the delay in the completion of the Cabinet lamented by Guernieri in a letter of 1728 (document 2). A letter of the English consul to Naples, Edward Allen, dated 7 December 1726, mentions that he had allowed Beaufort credit of a large sum of money, which was remitted to 'Mr Thomas Tyrrel Chamberlayn to the Great Duke of Tuscany for the purchase of a fine Cabinett, which the Duke saw, when he passed through Florence' (B. Ford and J. Ingamells, 1997, p. 68).
This letter may be a truthful rendering of events, although no other papers suggest the fact that the Cabinet already existed as mentioned. It is also rather improbable that 6 years were really required to complete the ormolu and other enrichments for the Cabinet if it already existed in 1726. The fact remains that the consul never saw the cabinet, which was finished in 1728 as Guernieri mentions (document 2) and the sumptuous piece did not leave Leghorn until 1732.
CLOCKS
The Beaufort Cabinet is today the only piece of furniture of this type with a clock, although the cabinet, currently untraced, which Grand Duke Cosimo III had made in the Galleria between 1680 and 1682 as a gift for the Duke of Alba had such a feature. It should also be noted that the elaborate cresting with the Beaufort coat-of-arms is fully three-dimensional, like that on Ferdinand II's cabinet, while the heraldic elements on the Elector Palatine's cabinet are, instead, in half relief and applied to the wooden structure. Other clock faces in hardstone were produced in the Galleria at this time, and it is common to find fleurs-de-lys placed among the numerals as on this cabinet. It is probable that they refer generically to Florence, of which they are the emblem, and not, in this particular case, to the Beaufort coat-of-arms. Few clockmakers who worked in the the Grand Ducal Workshops are known by name. The names of two are known to us: Ignazio Hugford, who signed the movement of a pendulum clock in ebony and gilt-metal, now in Palazzo Pitti (Hugford is also mentioned in relation to a clock in hardstone made at the Galleria in 1705, but his name had, however, already appeared by 1695); and Francesco Papillon, who was registered in the Arte degli orologiai in Florence in 1705, and signed a movement for a pendulum clock in ebony and hardstone, as well as others with simpler cases.
DRAWINGS OF THE CABINET
Three watercolour drawings, probably executed to facilitate the reassembling of the Cabinet without any error for the position of the drawers, from the archives at Badminton, are to be sold with the cabinet. Before examining these sheets, it must be said that this cabinet is constructed with ingenious simplicity, consisting of four superimposed sections one above the other, easily taken apart in spite of the great weight of each (with the base these made up the contents of the five cases recorded in the shipping papers). This denotes great ability on the part of the joiner who oversaw the construction of the carcase, and this same capacity was demonstrated by the cabinet-maker responsible for the external work and the superb drawers veneered with richly figured purpleheart, hidden behind the central door.
These drawings were evidently prepared at the Galleria dei lavori, as the measurements are given in 'Scala di braccia due à Panno Fiorentine'. The sheet with one of the legs is inscribed in French, 'Celle icy est la Boulle de cuivre doré que l'on pourrá ajouter si l'on veut', which would appear to indicate instructions for reassemblage and follows exactly the real thing. The drawings on the front and sides show fewer bronze mounts than those found on the actual Cabinet. One is, therefore, inclined to the opinion that they were executed before the Cabinet was completely finished. It is not impossibly that the present mounts are those enrichments referred to in the letter of 9 July 1728 (document 2). Let us examine these additions in the light of the drawings: a large bow, centred by a shell was added to the coat-of-arms, while the statuettes on the crowning feature in the drawing do not correspond to any of Ticciati's models. The small pilasters on either side of the clock were first planned in red jasper, but carried out in lapis, and ornaments in the form of grotesque and femal heads, with garlands in gilt-bronze were superimposed on the pilasters of the two registers without, however, changing the original veneer in amethyst. The drawing does not show the semi-precious stones with the cabochon and gilt-bronze mounts found on the central amethyst border.
A CABINET AND OTHER ACQUISITIONS IN ROME
It was only in 1942 that modern study and appreciation of the Beaufort Cabinet can be said to begin with a long essay entitled 'The Red Folder', written by Sir Osbert Sitwell at H.M. Queen Mary's instance and published in The Burlington Magazine in April and May of that year. Sir Osbert's study is also much more: it laid the foundations for an understanding of the 3rd Duke who, even today, is not as well known as he should be, given his great importance as a patron of the Arts. Henry Somerset was born in 1707, and at the tender age of seven succeeded to his father's title and great riches. He left early for the Continent, stopping for some long time in Paris before settling for Italy. As has been mentioned above, he was in Florence early in 1726 and then and before went to Rome and other Italian cities, where he remained at length. The young Duke's social and political rank enabled him to frequent men of the highest position in the various Italian states through which he passed. We know from the letters published in the Appendix that Beaufort was an intimate of that powerful manipulator of kings and nations, Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, but, at the same time, was also friendly with Cardinal Alessandro Albani, nephew of Clement XI who had died in 1721. He also frequented Cardinal Lercari from whom he either acquired or was given a statue. A native of Genoa, Nicola-Maria Lercari (1675-1757) had been elevated to the cardinalate by the Pope, Benedict XIII, in 1726, the year of Beaufort's visit to the Eternal City. Lercari was also the Pope's secretary of State and a great friend and protector of the Arts. It is not clear why Beaufort had such close contacts wit these highly placed dignitaries and officials of a Religion which was not his own. However, his great uncle, the Duke of Ormonde, had strong sympathies for the Church of Rome, and the family, as a whole, did nothing to hide their Jacobite sentiments.
These were the keys which opened many doors for the young Beaufort in Catholic Italy, and so it was that his movements were closely watched by one of the most attentive observers of early eighteenth-century Rome, Francesco Valesio. On two distinct occasions, this prolific diarist records events which had the 3rd Duke at their centre. On 14 May 1726 he wrote that is was general knowledge that the 'Duca di Beofort' (sic) had had a private talk with the King of England, as the Old Pretender was called in Rome. A few months later, on 23 November, Valesio noted 'the 'duca di Beofort', a young English gentleman belonging to one the richest and most powerful families of that nation, had had another Englishman, who was the natural son of one of his uncles, beaten up. He (i.e. Beaufort) is living in the house of the Cavaliere Guarnieri, a stuccoist who had also been the architect of the Prince of Hesse. It is the last house next to the park of the Ludovisi family asone makes ones way to the Porta Pinciana' (F. Valesio, Diario di Roma, ed. by G. Scano and G. Graglia, Milan, 1978, IV. pp. 670 and 747).
It is not known who advised this distinguished Grand Tourist on his artistic purchases, but Willam Philips, his tutor and friend who was later to turn against him, most likely had a part in them. Be that as it may, the Duke spent large sums- almost five thousand pounds- on important pictures by Claude, Salvator Rosa, Carlo Maratta, Pietro da Cortona, Reni and Poussin, as well as others, with hight sounding attributions to Leonardo and Raphael. It remains to be asked if the Duke's acquisitions were in any way influenced by that much talked about and ambiguous persone, Baron Philip von Stosch. It is well-known that Stosch was not only one of the major eighteenth-century connoisseurs of the Antique, but also earned his living for a spy for the English Government, paying particular attention to all that went on at the Court of the Old Pretender in Palazzo Muti. In a number of his dispatches for 1726 to his superiors in London, he referred, perhaps enviously to three thousand crowns and more that the Duke had already spen on pictures and sculpture, and spoke of his zealous efforts to findout what the Old Pretender had said to the younger man during their audience. (L. Lewis, Connoisseurs and Secret Agents in Eighteenth Century Rome, London, 1961, passim). It remains, however, to be established if in this instance Stosch was writing as faithful informant of as a disappointed dealer who has not shared the windfall. We know that the Duke did frequent, in the person of Francesco de' Ficoroni, another of those scholarly antiquarian-dealers who were such a feature of eighteenth-century Rome (document 12) and who is remebered today as the then owner of one of the greatest masterpieces of Etruscan art.
A decisive voice in all the negociations leading up the Duke's purchases was that of Giovanni Francesco Guernieri, who owned a palace near the Porta Pinciana, where Beaufort stayed as a paying guest. An architect and stuccoist, Guernieri was born in Rome in 1665 (U. Thieme and F. Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler, Leipzig, 1922, vol. 15, p. 235 and A. Holtmeyer, Zeitscrift F. Geseh. d. Architektur, 1909, III, p. 249ff). At the age of thirty, he contributed to the decoration of the Altar of S. Ignatius in the Gesù, Rome, before going to Germany where he entered the service of the Landgrave of Hesse at Kassel. There he was responsible for many important works, and in 1711 married a German woman by whom he had two daughters. In 1715 Guernieri was in Düsseldorf, working for the Elector Palatine. Returning to Rome, he built himself a palace, and was elected member of the Virtuosi del Pantheon. Although little is, as yet, known about his professional activity in the Papal city, it would seem likely that Guernieri designed for the Duke the 'closet' which will be discussed shorly. After his death in 1745, his widow continued to run the osrt of luxurious hotel which her husband had set up in their home. The standing that Guernieri had earned for himself with the powerful can be seen from the fact that, in 1765, twenty years after his death, Cardinal Alessandro Albani wrote to Sir Horace Mann, English Resident in Florence, asking for his help for the widow. In his letter, the cardinal affirmed that: 'for may years English gentleman who came to Rome had lodged with the Chevalier Guarnieri, who seemed to have build his house especially for them, with...the best air in town...and very suitable furniture' (Lewis, ibid, p. 226).
Unfortunatly, Sir Osbert's meritorious research was not without its mistakes, due to an erroneous reading of the documents at Badminton, resulting from incorrect translation of the originals in an extremely complicated Italian and Cavalier Guernieri's indescribably French. It has led to this great masterpiece of the Galleria dei lavori of the Grand Duke of Tuscany being confused, even today, with a work of an altogether different nature, which was made in Rome. We are referring to what Guernieri called a 'cabinet'. The use of the word, which in French may mean either a piece of furniture or a small room, prompted Sir Osbert to suppose that it referred to the Beaufort Cabinet itself. However, one has only to read Guernieri's letters of 3 June and 9 July 1728 (documents 1 and 2) carefully to understand that this is not the case. It is true that in the first letter, Guernieri stated that the 'cabinet est enfin acheve' but he added that it was to be packed in ninety-six cases. He then stated a number of details that make it quite clear that he was not talking about a piece of furniture. For example, he mentions the existence of over-doors, deux ovales dessus les portes, and the fact that la pierre des yeaux du haut du Cabinet had not been cut. Now it is unthinkable that the Beaufort Cabinet would have been sent with any of its stones not completely worked, especially as we are not discussing a miracle of Florentine craftsmanship. More to the point, the mysterious pierre des yeaux is not a hardstone at all, but a marble. It is a type of onyx, called alabastro a occhi in Italian, and can be cut with relative east, like all alabaster. Anyway, in early eighteenth-century England, there were no artisans capable of working hardstone, while there may have been marble masons adept at finishing a sheet of alabaster. And, in faxt, Guernieri never mentions hardstones, only marbles, explaining that they came from archaeological sites belonging to the Farnese or Sacchetti families.
The latter possessed a residence outside of Rome at Castelfusano, near Ostia and not far from the ruins of Pliny's villa. Finally, when Guernieri speaks of the nobles and connoiseurs 'de cette ville' who found the Duke's 'cabinet' 'un ouvrage exquis et parfait', he is obviously referring to inhabitants of Rome, not Florence, as he was writing from the former city. All of the above receives further confirmation in Guernieri's second letter (document 2). There he describes the shipment of the Cabinet, which by a slip of the pen he makes plural. Taken together Cabinet and packing cases weighed the grand total of 240,000 livres, or 90 English tonnellées. It is plainly impossible that the Beaufort Cabinet, however large it may be, filled ninety-three cases or weighed so much.
Guernieri then goes on to offer yet mroe details which make it clear that he is talking about an entire room and not just a piece of furniture. For example, he states that he has included a plan of the whole where the position of the doors and windows are marked, and further specifies that they are to be of wood and set into the walls in such a way as not to be seen. (It seems superflous to note that the Beaufort Cabinet has neither doors nor windows, nor does it need to be set into a wall, being free-standing). Guernieri also warns against exposing the marbles to the sun as they might, thus, be damaged. He never once mentions hardstones, which, incidentally, are not affected by the sun's rays. Lastly, Guernieri asserts that the Cabinet packed in Rome in ninety-six cases was a 'nouvelle invention, inventée à Rome', a definition which in no way applies to the Beaufort Cabinet.
If all this were not sufficient, Guernieri records in the letter the existence of an object being made in Florence for Beaufort under Thomas Tyrrel's supervision. The first mention on 3 July is rather vague, but the second of 9 July is extremenly precise. Guernieri, in fact, writes of a 'petit cabinet' under construction in the Gallerie de S.A.R.G. Duc de Toscane'. One should not be deceived by the term 'petit cabinet' applied to a piece of furniture, like the Cabinet, of monumental proportions, but that Guernieri used the same word to describe the entire room that he had had made in Rome. Bearing this in mind, the significance of the adjective petit becomes clear. A further document established beyond any doubt and for all time the difference between the two cabinets. It takes the form of a list in Italian of all the moneys paid out by a Giovanni Angelo Belloni on the Duke's behalf (document 4). On 23 June 1728 the marble mason Francesco Tedeschi was paid 'per tutti li marmi fabricati, e lavorati per il Gabinetto de S.E.' This artisan, perhaps of German origin- in Guernieri's account kept in French (document 5) he is, in fact, called called François Allemand- is, therefore, the author of that singular 'closet' or Gabinetto, a term meaning in Italian a room and never a piece of furniture. The same accounts also contain the name of the man who busied himself 'facento i cassoni per incassare le Pietre di marmo', one Francesco Santi, carpenter of the cases for the shipment of the marbles and not the author of 'cassoni inlaid with marble' as Sir Osbert supposed because of a mistaken translation from the Italian. Lucy Abel-Smith has established that these marbles were never used to erect a marble room at Badminton, the reasons for which remain unclear. Some of these marbles have been identified in the church at Badminton, which was demolished by the 5th Duke in 1783. They are large oval panels, decorated with the Beaufort crest and interlaced Bs inserted in the floor of the chapel of the first Duchess of Beaufort (op. cit. p. 28).
THE ALBERONI SARCOPHAGUS
In the documents from the Badminton archive, published in the Appendix, there is mention, on more than one occasion, of an 'urn' which the Duke had received as a gift from Cardinal Alberoni. On 3 June 1728, Guernieri informed his paton that he had had difficulty in obtaining an export licence because Cardinal Albani had no intention of letting such an important object leave the Papal States, especially as it washeld in great esteem by Roman connoisseurs of the Antique (document 2). However, two further documents (4 and 5) list the expenses incurred for the transport of the 'urn' from Alberoni's vineyard, for taxes at Customs, and for the construction of a packing case, while yet another (document 7), states that the case marked with the number 53 on the ship which transported Beaufort's marbles to Bristol contained this 'urn' and gives it approximate measurements. The 'urn' is again mentioned in Guernieri's last letter. It is obvious that this object was of great importance both in itself and as an indication of its owner's antiquarian tastes. A.F. Gori, the celebrated Florentine scholar of the period, wrote that is was generally believed that the Duke had divided with Cardinals Albani and Polignac the contents of a colombarium discovered in Rome during his stay there, and that the urns and sarcopagi contained the remains of the servants and liberti of Livia. It appears that Beaufort later sold some of these marbles to the Earl of Pembroke who displayed them to great effect at Wilton (A. Michaelis, Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, Cambridge, 1882, pp. 61 and 669 where the reference is made to A.F. Gori's Monumentum libertorum Liviae Augustae, Florence, 1727). Beaufort's antiquarian tastes, therefore, prompted Alberoni who, during his years of relative disgrace, was always on the lookout for powerful friends, to make the young Milord Inglese a gift of this magnificent 'urn'. It remained for more than two centuries one of the most important objects at Badminton. In 1733, as is attested by an inscription (1733 HIC POS. M) on the back, the 'urn' was appropriately placed by Willam Kent in the grandiose North Hall on a base of four large marble balls, designed by the architect himself (fig. 7). There it remained until 1955 when it was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum, New York. This sarcophagus has always been considered one of the most important of the age of Septimius Severus, both for the extraordinary quality of the Bacchic scene and elegant cistern-like shape with the curved sides that, at various times, has given it the name of the Augustus Bath (A. M. McCann, Roman Sarcophagi in the Metropolitan Muesum of Art, New York, 1978, pp. 94-106).
It is possible from the above to form an idea of the omniverous collecting tastes of the 3rd Duke, who was interested in both quantity and quality. He bought something of everything and, although it is now difficult to appreciate the original impact of his acquisitions as a whole because many of them are no longer in situ, it would seem that Beaufort was among the wisest collectors of his day. In conclusion, it should be noted that furnishings, in the narrow sense of the word, did not escape his notice. A letter of 8 January 1728 states that he had bought more than a dozen table tops in coloured marbles, some of which are still at Badminton, as well as the'frame of a table guilt of monstrous size' (document 12). This last must refer to one of the bizarre and highly wrought table bases so characteristic of Roman Baroque furniture. Who knows where it is now? Some idea of what it looked like is given to us in a painting by Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A. (1802-1873) where the future 8th Duke of Beaufort is portrayed in front of this console, his head just slightly higher than its outlandish bulk (fig. 8).
Alvar González-Palacios
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to thank Kirsten Piacenti and Anna Maria Giusti of the Florentine Museums, Margaret Richards, the archivist at Badminton, Carlotta Melocchi, Filippo Tuena and Roberto Valeriani in Rome, Charles Cator, Amjad Rauf and Andrew Ciechanowiecki in London. Professor Antonio Guiliano of Rome University has provided useful information on the Alberoni sacophagus and Dr. Jennifer Montagu on the Ticciati bronzes. Donald Garstang has translated this text.
APPENDIX OF DOCUMENTS
All the documents are in the Badminton Muniments, Family Papers (The Red Folder) unless otherwise stated
I.
G. F. GUERNIERI TO THE DUKE, 3 JUNE 1728
je me donne l'honneur...faire savoir que son Cabinet est enfin achevé; je l'ay deja fait embarquer avec l'urne dont M. Le Cardinal Alberoni a fait present a V.E. et avec les onze pieces de tableau en mignature lesquelles l'ont eté consignêes partie par le S. Berettoni et partie par le S. Ange Belloni je les ay fait emballer avec soin en trois differentes caisses. Les caisses de marbre sont au nombre de 96...je parti pour fiumencino a fin de voir recharger les marbres sur deux tartanes de mer, j'ay voulu etre present a fin que toute chose soit rembarquée avec diligence pour eviter tout desordre dans le transport d'une barque a l'autre, sitot que l'embarquement sera achevé je partiray pour Livorne afin de veiller au chargement du vaisseau Anglois...afin qu'a l'ârivée de deux tartanes on puisse immediatement les decharger dans le susd. vaisseau...j'ay cru necessaire de faire le voyage de Livorne, j'ay averti...Le S. Thomas Tyrel de florence qu'il eut a mettre en ordre et duement enchasser les travaux pour V.E. et qu'il les envoye sans delay a Livorne, ce que a mon avis il aura deja ponctuellement execute; aussi tot apres mon arrivée a Livorne je rendray compte a V.E...
...je dois informer V.E. qu'on a dû laisser dans son plain la pierre des yeux du haut du Cabinet crainte qu'ils ne se rompissent; quand on les mettra en oeuvre le tailleur de pierre soit ouvrier en marbre pourra alors vuider la pierre et de cette maniere le tout ira bien on devra aussi faire de meme des deux ovales dessus les portes que pour la meme raison on a laissé dans leur plain...il seroit a propos quelle fit venir un des ouvriers qui ont travaillé aud. ouvrage afin qu'en...puisse poliment metre en oeuvre...il seroit besoin d'un polisseur qui peut proprement ajuster et unir ensemble toutes le pieces...J'ay mis dans une cassette des pieces des differentes sortes de marbre qu'on a employé pour le d. Cabinet afin que si par malheur un morceau venoit a se rompre on ait le moyen de retrouver du marbre de la meme qualité...Les marbres anciens sont dune tres grande beauté la pluts a eté acheté dans la Villa farnèse d'un temple de Neron et l'autre partie a Ostie dans le terriroire du Marquis Saquetti plusieurs de la Noblesse et des Connoisseurs de cette ville ont trouvé ce Cabinet d'un ouvrage exquis et parfait...Au sujet de L'urne je crois devoir informer V.E. que j'ay eu bien de la peine a obtenir de M Le Cardinal Albani la permission de la pouvoir embarquer. Ce Cardinal ne vouloit absolument permettre que cette urne sortit de Rome a cause quelle etoit deja imprimée et que les antiquaires de cette ville en faisoit beaucoup desteine.
Rome, 3 Juin 1728.
2.
G. F. GUERNIERI TO THE DUKE, 9 JULY 1728
J'ay I'honneur par la presente de presenter mes plus humbles devoirs à Son Excellence en luy donnant advis de toutte la negociation que j'ay fait a mon arrivée a Livorne, avec les marbres qui devoient estre embarqués sur le Navire appellé Marie Susanne, Capitaine Ezechiel Vass, Anglois, en premier lieu je suis arrivé à florence le 23 juin passé et d'abbord j'envoyait appeller monsieur Tommas Tyrrel, auquel V Ex:
Le Samedy au matin du 26.e passé j'arrivais à Livorne et je me portat d'abbort ches M. Jean Winder con consulter sur le Navire Anglois qui estoit dejà pret despuis 15. jours . . . les deux Navires sur les quels j'avois fait charger les Cabinets à Rome retarderent cinq jours par rapport à la tempeste de la mer, enfin ils sont arrivés a Livorne. . . on a commencée à les charger sur le Navire Anglois, on a visitté touttes les caisses pièce par pièce, il n'y à rien eû de gasché n'y de cassé, mais le tout en tres bon etat . . . (Le) Capitaine . . . n'avois pas eu des hommes pratiques à faire charger tous les marbres sur le Navire Anglois il seroit allé tres mal, attendu que le Capitaine du dit Navire n'avoit pas des gens cappables n'y pratiques dud.
WINDER & AIKMAN TO ROBERT ARBUTHNOT, 24 JULY 1728
...please acquaint the Duke...that when the Cabinet & other things come to hand that Mr. Tyrrell is to send us from fflorence, which by what we can hear, will not be in these 3 months still, we shall ship them on some ship for London, if none should offer for Bristoll about time.
(Livorno), 24 July 1728.
4.
ACCOUNT FROM G. A. BELLONI FOR EXPENSES INCURRED BY G. F. GUERNIERI SENT TO ROBERT ARBUTHNOT
Sig
1728 11 mag
(detto) Pagati a Francesco Santi Falegname . . . cassoni che va facendo per incassare le Pietre di Marmo . . .
(detto) Pagati a Bartolomeo Guidotti portinaro di Porta Portese per gabella del passo di tutti li Marmi spettanti al sudetto Sig. Duca per mandarli a Livorno . . .
5 giug
(detto) Pagati a Francesco Tedeschi Mastro Scarpellino per suo rimborso di diverse spese fatte per il trasporto de sudetti Marmi . . . compreso le spese per la sudetta urna
23 giug
(detto) Pagati al sudetto Tedeschi per suo rimborso di mancie date a' diversi scarpel lini . . . (detto) Pagati a Cherardo de Vo ferraro . . . per le casse de sudetti marmi . . .
23 giug
(Undated, signed by) Gio. Ang. Belloni.