Comments on: A Call to Arms! Heraldry in Renaissance Florence (And a Mystery You Can Help Solve)

By: Allen Manzano

Allen Manzano — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 05:41:20 +0000

The use of the octagon halo is, according to information in the exhibit, characteristic of personified qualities and not actual persons such as saints. If so, St. Michael seems less likely than justice as the subject of this image. Coats of arms are open to interpretation; the one for my family is claimed to represent the naming by a king (allegedly Peter the Cruel of Castile) of the first person with the family name, for saving him in battle. The king is shown as a lion leaning against the apple tree and thence the family name. But a later argument was that the name was Sephardic and the legend a cover for its Jewish origins. I presume the idea of coats of arms was just an exercise in self promotion, a symbol easily recognized when literacy was infrequent. Who was the originator and who the designer and what was meant is the rest of the story.

By: Insaccato Storico

Insaccato Storico — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 08:18:29 +0000

The nearest I could find is the following: http://www.archiviodistato.firenze.it/ceramellipapiani2/index.php?page=Famiglia&id=6540

By: Gavin O'Brien

Gavin O'Brien — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 01:15:57 +0000

I haven’t seen Justice represented with wings. It might not be justice. It might be the Archangel Michel with the balances for weighing souls.
Gavin O’Brien

By: Hugh Hudson

Hugh Hudson — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:55:39 +0000

It is certainly a wonderful thing that internet resources have made the identification of Renaissance coats of arms easier, but a note of caution: not everyone with a given surname may be entitled to use the coat of arms of a family with the same surname, and the same coat of arms (especially if it is has relatively simple elements) might be used by entirely unrelated families. Happy researching, Hugh.

By: Deb Apprille

Deb Apprille — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 00:32:13 +0000

Alberti (Firenze)
http://wikipedia.sapere.virgilio.it/wikipedia/wiki/Armoriale_delle_famiglie_italiane_%28Al%29
halfway down

By: Deb Apprille

Deb Apprille — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:37:16 +0000

Corsini?