In this amply illustrated volume, Nirit Ben-Aryeh Debby offers a much needed interdisciplinary study examining the physical venues of Renaissance preaching, namely the pulpits of Tuscany during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The author's purpose is to analyze pulpits not merely as architectonic or sculptural subjects, but as integral parts of Renaissance preaching. In short, the pulpits themselves are a form of “silent preaching” (18). The study's central question is “How did the nature and context of the religious preaching shape the Renaissance pulpit?” (11). By using an interdisciplinary approach, weaving history, sermon studies, and art history, the author examines patronage, function, and chronological development of pulpits in Renaissance Tuscany in order to see how pulpits, preaching, and sermons became interrelated. In this way the book brings the subject matter of pulpits into a broader field of study than just art history.
Over the course of nine chapters, Debby explores this transitional period from medieval to modern preaching by providing a general survey of many Tuscan pulpits with particular emphasis on five, which she chose because they are the “most exquisite and impressive” (3). These five pulpits that form the center of her analysis are: Andrea Cavalcanti and Brunelleschi's pulpit with its depictions of the life of the Virgin in Santa Maria Novella in Florence (1441–1443); Benedetto da Maiano's pulpit with its scenes from the life of St. Francis in Santa Croce also in Florence (1472–1485); the pulpit for Prato's cathedral with scenes from the lives of John the Baptist, St. Stephen, and the Virgin by Pasquino da Montepilciano, Mino da Fiesole, and Antonio Rossellino (1469–1473); the external pulpit at Prato's cathedral done by Donatello and Michelozzo (1433); and Donatello's double pulpits for San Lorenzo in Florence (1466–1472), depicting scenes from the Passion of Christ. The author supplements her discussion of these five pulpits with many other examples from Tuscany, and in the final chapters from other parts of Italy.
After the introductory chapter which establishes the historiographical need for the study as well as the methodological approach, the second chapter offers a brief discussion of primarily Tuscan pulpits up to 1400 with special attention given to the famous pulpits of Pisa. Chapter 3 explores the role of patrons in determining a new function of pulpits despite criticism from famous contemporary preachers, such as Savonarola. This new function turned pulpits into pieces of commemorative sculpture that contributed to the secularization of the sacred space of churches with inclusion of portraits and coats of arms. Chapter 4 examines the location and function of pulpits and concludes that the practical needs of preaching determined the location in the lower nave, thus in the midst of the congregation. This chapter also points out the exceptional nature of the pulpits found in the larger mendicant churches and cathedrals, with most churches making use of more humble pulpits, including portable pulpits.
The central part of the study runs from chapters 5 to 8 where the author analyzes closely the five impressive pulpits with respect to their design and particular use with regard to their local cults. The conclusions of each chapter are not unexpected; the author links the sculptural programs of each pulpit to particular cults in each local community. While the conclusions may not be revolutionary, the combination of textual evidence, scholarly analysis, and copious illustrations provide a rich mine of material of which scholars will be able to make ample use. Chapter 9 shifts ahead chronologically to investigate the changes imposed on pulpits from reforms, especially those reforms instructed by Carlo Borromeo. In this chapter the geographical focus shifts somewhat with model pulpits for the reform found in Rome and created in the cathedral of Milan. The book's conclusion is a brief summary of author's main point: that the pulpit was “an integral part of the world of sacred oratory” (177).
Debby has written this book in a lucid style and has helped the busy reader by providing clear conclusions that summarize each chapter. The summary conclusions are all the more helpful since the detail of each chapter with the number of illustrative pulpits can begin reading like a catalogue of pulpits rather than a thorough analysis of Renaissance preaching. The positive result of such detail is the many clear examples, usually illustrated in the plates or figures. While there is precision in the identification of many pulpits, other forms of evidence are left vaguely alluded to merely as “documents,” such as in the author's discussion of fifteenth- and sixteenth- century uses of altars (56). A clearer identification of the types of documents referred to would help the analytical reader assess the discussion better.
Of more substantial concern is the dependence on five pulpits that the author admits are “exquisite and impressive” (3), that is, unusual. The norm for renaissance pulpits was not elaborately sculpted pieces. Instead, most pulpits were simple and decorated with ornamental motifs rather than elaborate sculpture programs (4). The author's interest in bringing the same level of scholarly attention to these remarkable Renaissance pulpits as has been received by the earlier Pisan pulpits and sixteenth-century Tridentine pulpits is certainly an appropriate goal, but it is a study of the remarkable rather than illustrative examples of a period.
These critiques, however, are minor given the wealth of information this study offers to the analysis of late medieval and Renaissance preaching. Only when we can understand sacred oratory within its physical context, can we truly begin to evaluate the role preaching had at this time. Debby's will remain an important resource for all scholars of Italian preaching for a long while.
