The Historical “Taccola” and Emperor Sigismund in Siena

Abstract

The identity of Ser Mariano di Jacopo, called Il Taccola, has long been something of a mystery, although his works have been studied and evaluated by historians of science and military historians for more than a century.1 Taccola, who was known in the fifteenth century also as the Sienese Archimedes, has been credited at one time or another with the invention of an impressive series of machines, devices, and processes, including the underground explosive mine, the suction pump, an underwater breathing apparatus, and a plan for desalinating sea water. It is now generally agreed that this Sienese engineer had a very considerable, if underground, reputation and that his influence was great during the Quattrocento; furthermore, there is sufficient internal evidence to allow the supposition that Leonardo da Vinci knew some of Taccola's inventions.2 Nor has Taccola entirely escaped the scrutiny of art historians, since there is good reason to suppose that his work had a powerful influence on his compatriot Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439–1501). Recently Michelini Tocci has speculated on the possibility that Francesco actually made some of the illustrations in a Taccola manuscript now in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich (CLM 197, Pt. 2). This manuscript, henceforth referred to as Munich L 197, was made over a period of years, and apparently it was a catch-all notebook or taccuino that served to record Taccola's ideas from time to time. Based upon stylistic analysis of some drawings in the manuscript and upon the belief that Taccola was not himself an artist, the suggestion has been made that Taccola had a collaborator much more skilled in drawing than he, and that this collaborator executed the designs according to the indications of the author, who then added his descriptions or commentary.3 The underlying assumption, namely that Taccola had no artistic training or skill, is symptomatic of the state of research on the Sienese engineer. In the Enciclopedia italiana (s.v.) R. Marcolongo confesses, “Si conosce ben poco’ della sua vita, sapendosi solamente che visse nella prima metà del sec. XV e fu sempre ricordato come inventore e scrittore di cose militari ingegnosissime.” This admission of ignorance about Taccola's life was already expressed by E. Rocchi when he said, “… della vita di Mariano di Jacopo nulla si conosce di positiva….”4 It seems to me essential that before further study is undertaken on the contributions of Taccola a biographical foundation be laid. It is therefore the purpose of this paper to bring together all the information related to Taccola's life, for the most part leaving for future study the technical problems connected with his works, their sources, and their implications for Francesco di Giorgio, Leonardo, and other Renaissance trattatisti. I shall also discuss at some length a single, and as yet unpublished, manuscript by Taccola since it represents his earliest preserved finished work. This manuscript contains drawings by him that have considerable interest for the art historian. The circumstances that brought about the writing of the manuscript have a significant echo in Sienese art during the fourth decade of the Quattrocento.