giovanni di ser Giovanni Guidi, called Scheggia Circa 1430 - 35 San Giovanni Valdarno near Arezzo 1406 - 1486 Florence

A. Ritchie, "An Italian 15th Century Panel," in Gallery Notes, vol. XIII, Buffalo 1948 - 1949, p. 7;
V. Ford, "Gift of Baroness Marked by Artistic Perfection," in The Buffalo Courier-Express, April 24, 1949, p. 15-D, reproduced;
A. Ritchie, Catalogue of the Paintings and Sculpture in the Permanent Collection, the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo 1949, p. 211, cat. no. 194 (as cassone panel, Italian, 15th century;
S. A. Nash, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Painting and Sculpture from Antiquity to 1942, New York 1979, p. 161 (as cassone panel, Italian, 15th century);
S. Lillie, Was einmal war: handbuch der enteigneten Kunstsammlungen Wiens, Vienna 2003, p. 1006 (as Italienischer Casonemaler, Aufzug zu einem Turnier);
F. Kunth, Die Rothschild'schen Gemäldesammlungen in Wien, Weimar 2006, p. 316 (as florentinischer cassonemaler, Aufzug zu einem Turnier).

This painting once formed the front panel of a cassone or marriage chest, a form of luxurious furniture popular in Northern Italy, particularly in Tuscany, from the 14th to the 16th Century.  Cassoni were usually commissioned in pairs in honour of a wedding, and while they were originally used for more practical purposes, such as the storage of linens and presumably other items included in the bride's dowry, by the early 15th Century they had become luxury items, meant to convey the intermarrying families' wealth and social status.  By the middle decades of the 15th Century, biblical scenes or episodes from classical history were often depicted, sometimes of extremely rarefied subject matter (as is, indeed, the case of the present example), thus presumably allowing the patron to display his own scholarly sophistication. 

Although they were sometimes painted by artists who had more standard practices, cassoni were often painted by specialists who produced them and other related types of paintings, such as spalliere and deschi da parto.  In fact, the painter of the present panel, Giovanni di Ser Giovanni, called Scheggia, was one such artist.  Although the younger brother of no less a figure than Masaccio, Scheggia restricted himself, with some rare exceptions, to the producton of small devotional panels as well as cassoni and deschi.¹  Indeed, his most famous work was a desco da parto (literally "birth salver"),  depicting the Triumph of Fame, commissioned by the Medici family on January 1, 1449 to celebrate the birth of Lorenzo de'  Medici (now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. 1995.7)

Although it has in the past defied exact identification, the subject of the present cassone can now be established with absolute certainty: the panel represents the Reduction of Alba Longa by Tullus Hostilius, an event related by Livy in his monumental history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita (Book I, chapters 27-28).  The various episodes of the story are depicted in detail by the artist, if somewhat fancifully.  The city of Rome itself dominates the center of the composition, and can be easily recognized by many of its most famous monuments.  In addition to antique buildings which would have been familiar to the educated patron of the artist's day— including the Colosseum, Trajan’s Column, and the Pyramid of Cestius, themselves anachronistically included—  Scheggia has also depicted structures of the Christian era, including a basilica (perhaps that of San Paolo) and the church of the Aracoeli at the top of the steep stairs leading up the Capitoline Hill. 

The event depicted took place during the reign of Tullus Hostilius (traditionally 673-642 BC), centuries before any of these structures were erected.  The city of Alba Longa, connected to Rome in its history and people, had made a pact to stand together with Rome against its enemies.  The Roman colony of Fidenae was in revolt, and Tullus Hostilius, the King of Rome, invoked the treaty that linked his armies with that of Alba Longa, commanded by the leader of that city Mettus Fuffetius.  Once the battle had been engaged, Mettus coyly pulled his troops back in order to see which way the battle would go, and thus join the winning side.  The battle depicted at the right of the composition shows the Alban and Roman troops (distinguished by their banners, the Boar and SPQR motto respectively) outside of the walls of Fidenae as the battle is joined.  Once the battle was over and won, Tullus called a meeting of the two armies, with the pretext of offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving for the victory, but in fact to confront Mettus with his perfidy.  This scene is shown in great narrative detail at the lower left of the composition, with the two generals surrounded by their pages and soldiers (who are dressed not in classical armor, but as knights) as they parley.  Tullus has the unsuspecting Mettus seized and after charging him with his crime, he orders him to be torn apart by horses (shown at the middle left) in divided imitation of his actions at the battle.  Despite the harshness of Roman law, this was the only time that this punishment was ever ordered in Roman history and was regarded as a timeless example.

Rather than subject the Albans to a similar fate, however, Tullus declared them innocent of wrong-doing as they had been following the orders of their commander.  The city of Alba, however, was to be razed, and its populace moved to Rome, given full citizenship, its nobles confirmed in their patrician status.  In fact, in the upper left corner of the cassone, the city of Alba Longa is being pulled down, and a procession of its citizens with their belongings file into the gates of Rome.

We are grateful to Everett Fahy for first suggesting the attribution of the present painting to Scheggia after first hand inspection.  He has suggested an early dating for the panel, circa 1430-35.

1  There are a series of damaged frescoes in the church of San Lorenzo in San Giovanni Valdarno which are the artist's only known signed work, and most of which have been assigned to the artist's very early career, with some of the figures being added later by the artist, at a more mature phase.  There are also extant a few larger scale panels.  For a good overview of Scheggia's work and career, please see L. Cavazzini, Il Fratello di Masaccio: Giovanni di Ser Giovanni detto lo Scheggia, Siena 1999.