Botticelli, Savonarola, and the Politics of Late Quattrocento Florence

Aggeus, Sermon VII - 28 November 1494

Girolamo Savonarola, portrait

The fall and winter of 1494 saw a shift in Fra Girolamo Savonarola’s sermons. Initially, he was not concerned with the politics and reform of Florence when he began preaching. His earlier sermons had an apocalyptic nature and message to them. However, the uncertain government of a Florence recently freed from Medicean authority quickly became his focus. Savonarola had seen this city descend into sin, he witnessed the punishments God sent in an attempt to cleanse Florence, and lastly, he was granted a divine vision detailing their redemption and salvation. Enthusiastically and sensationally, Savonarola “taught the first city of the Renaissance how to become the first city of a New Age”.[1] Understanding that religion and government were linked in Florence, he urged for a political reform so that a religious reform could take place. As his popularity increased, Savonarola began to be regarded as both a religious and political figure within Florence. Donald Weinstein writes that “[f]or the first time Savonarola, fortified by his own active role in the recent events and his increased authority, chose to give direct advice on the governing of the city, and he gave it as part of his divine mandate.”[2] Once again turning to the Bible for inspiration, he found new meaning in Haggai (Aggeus); the prophet who preached to the Jews upon their return from captivity. Furthermore, he inspired the construction of the new temple while promising that it would be better than its predecessor.[3] Similarly, Savonarola implored “his followers to build a new temple, the new regime in Florence”.[4]

         On 28 November 1494, the first Sunday of Advent, Savonarola gave his Aggeus, Sermon VII. He reminds his followers and listeners that God granted them a favour; the French did not invade Florence and so they safely passed through this trial of His. As a result, they need to give endless thanks to God and do good for both His glory and their salvation.[5] Savonarola details that God’s saints and elect receive from Him a “special light” that inclines them towards God’s teachings and actions.[6] This message not only encourages Florentines to embrace this light and firmly believe, but it also reinforces his own position as one of God’s chosen prophets and divine messengers. After all, his previous sermons warned them of forthcoming trials and evils and now he was proven correct in the form of God’s salvation: “I would like you to know that all my repeated saying and crying out to you, ‘Do penance,’ was not in vain.”[7] Fra Girolamo Savonarola had a divine purpose. He would be the one to unravel the signs and explain God’s favour in saving Florence; proof that they were divinely loved. It was God’s mercy and love which saved the city from invasion, not the virtues or deeds of men. After acknowledging the merciful favour God has granted them, he instructs his listeners to magnify and praise God through their prayers and actions and to never cease doing so. Furthermore, the citizens of Florence must live “uprightly” and devote themselves to simplicity, which Savonarola notes “seems to be lost and extinguished among men, for everyone tries to be richer and more important, shunning any simplicity”.[8]

         This, the first of three sermons to be examined, is more covert in its political messaging. Florence had just been spared foreign occupation as King Charles VIII headed south for Naples, and so, Savonarola needed to remind his listeners of their heavenly fortune. Moreover, he reaffirmed that his predictions pertaining to the trials of God were true, they were indeed being tested and, in this instance, had been spared. It was he, Savonarola, who urged them to prepare and repent for these punishments and he had proof that he was correct in these instructions. He was now in the position to communicate between God and the Florentines and instruct them how to continue receiving God’s favours. The threat of French invasion provided a perfect opportunity for the friar to reflect on the sins of the city and encourage them to change their ways in the name of religious salvation. One example of this, is the plea to return to more simple forms of praising God and living more in accordance with the apostolic model. Savonarola called for the abandoning of merriment and music as worship:

But nowadays we have converted these divine lauds into secular affairs, into music and songs, which may delight the sense and the ear but not the spirit, and this is no honor to God. Although these songs may be sweet to the ears, they do not rein in the soul, nor do they keep it tethered to the enjoyment of divine things, but that would require a return to that early simplicity and that the offices be recited without so much chanting, but only with devotion, with slight inflection of the voice, and with simplicity. I tell you that these songs of yours today have been invented out of ambition and avarice.[9]

Contemporary sources note the frequent celebrations and festivities hosted by the Medici. Francesco Guicciardini writes that during the time of Lorenzo de’ Medici, Florentines “delighted in spectacles, feasts, and novel diversions” daily.[10] He adds that Lorenzo supplied the people with “pleasures, delights, and festivals”.[11] It is likely that Savonarola is alluding to these festivals and denouncing them as having ambitious and avaricious motives, rather than serving the people and God. After establishing himself as God’s chosen messenger for Florence’s divine destiny, he begins to subtly illustrate ways in which so-called virtuous men can be seen to have led citizens astray. In keeping with is call for apostolic living, he addresses women, condoning their fixation with appearance and asking them to dress simply and forgo their attachments to earthly possessions and vanities. Wealthy women, especially, must lead by example and live according to Christ’s teachings, otherwise they will suffer greatly.[12] The Medici were one of the many prominent banking families in Florence who accrued their wealth and power through ambition and princely virtues, rather than heavenly ones. Once again, the habits and actions of wealthy families, like the Medici, are criticized and used as examples of impiety and what Florence should veer away from to continue receiving favours from God.