Joanna I of Anjou (1343–1382)

Paola Vitolo

doi:10.3390/encyclopedia1040097

Abstract

Joanna I of Anjou (1325–1382), countess of Provence and the fourth sovereign of the Angevin dynasty in south Italy (since 1343), became the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Sicily, succeeding her grandfather King Robert “the Wise” (1277–1343). The public and official images of the queen and the “symbolic” representations of her power, commissioned by her or by her entourage, contributed to create a new standard in the cultural references of the Angevin iconographic tradition aiming to assimilate models shared by the European ruling class. In particular, the following works of art and architecture will be analyzed: the queen’s portraits carved on the front slabs of royal sepulchers (namely those of her mother Mary of Valois and of Robert of Anjou) and on the liturgical furnishings in the church of Santa Chiara in Naples; the images painted in numerous illuminated manuscripts, in the chapter house of the friars in the Franciscan convent of Santa Chiara in Naples, in the lunette of the church in the Charterhouse of Capri. The church of the Incoronata in Naples does not show, at the present time, any portrait of the queen or explicit reference to Joanna as a patron. However, it is considered the highest symbolic image of her queenship.

Highlights

Joanna I of Anjou (1325–1382), countess of Provence and the fourth sovereign of the Angevin dynasty in south Italy, was the eldest daughter of Charles duke of Calabria (1298–1328) and Mary of Valois (1309–1331). She became the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Sicily upon the death of her father in 1328, succeeding her grandfather
In 1333, she married her cousin Andrew of Hungary, the brother of King Louis, with the aim to prevent the claims to the throne of Sicily from the Hungarian family branch
All along the forty years of Joanna’s reign, they demonstrate that propaganda through images developed two main themes: the claim of dynastic legitimacy the policy of propaganda through images developed two main themes: the claim of dy(through genealogical representations and images of dynastic kings and family saints) and nastic legitimacy

Summary

Introduction

Joanna I of Anjou (1325–1382), countess of Provence and the fourth sovereign of the Angevin dynasty in south Italy (since 1343), was the eldest daughter of Charles duke of Calabria (1298–1328) and Mary of Valois (1309–1331). I, Robert and Charles of Calabria), rePortraits of the queen or symbolic representations of her royal image, commissioned flected on the elements of the artistic and architectural patronage and contributing to the directly by her or her entourage with the aim to legitimize the queen’s succession to the creationand of the public image. Refer to the Angevin prestigious family and throne herqueen’s political authority, Portraits of the queen or symbolic representations of her royal image, commissioned dynastic tradition, and to the models of royal representation in vogue among the main directly by her or her entourage with the aim to legitimize the queen’s succession to the European ruling dynasties. The representation of Joanna’s image gained a broad and widely shared cultural and symbolic horizon

Before Coronation

Conclusions