Canonizing Zuccaro : The early life of Taddeo series and the building of an artistic legacy

The Early Life of Taddeo Zuccaro is a series of twenty-four highly finished drawings in pencil, ink, and wash executed by Federico Zuccaro (1541c-1609) in the mid-1590s depicting scenes from the life of Taddeo Zuccaro (1529-66) during his apprenticeship and early career. Each drawing is paired with a tercet of poetry also by Federico meant to complement the scene being depicted. The drawings and accompanying verse are a tribute to Taddeo, whose career was cut short by his death in 1566, from his younger brother and apprentice. The choice of Taddeo’s early life as the subject almost thirty years after his death was part of Federico’s attempt to depict a family legacy in his Palazzo in Rome that highlighted his artistic pedigree and innovative compositions. While the lives of artists is now a common subject of both visual and literary depictions, the subject was almost unique in the seicento, only the funerary banners painted by the members of the Accademia del Disegno for Michelangelo’s funeral in 1564 precede The Early Life of Taddeo series. This paper investigates how Federico Zuccaro through The Early Life of Taddeo Zuccaro series turns his brother into an exemplum for the students of the newly founded Accademia di San Luca of which Federico was the first principe, principal. Federico uses hagiographic imagery, which had previously only been used in relation to Michelangelo, to place his brother among the canon of great artist and by doing so elevated his brother, himself, and his newly founded academy. The Early Life of Taddeo Zuccaro is an ambitious attempt to control Taddeo’s narrative and establish a familial legacy that highlights many of the changing elements, both positive and negative, that will have long-lasting effect on how artists are viewed and operate. The drawings demonstrate just how aware the savvy artist was of their changing circumstances and the active role that artists could play in manipulating and responding to their evolving role in the social fabric of Italian cities at the end of the sixteenth century