Trionfo () is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

word meaning "triumph", also "triumphal procession", and a triumphal car or float in such a procession. The classical triumphal procession for victorious generals and Emperors known as the

Roman Triumph The Roman triumph (') was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the success of a military commander who had led Roman forces to victory in the service of the state or, in some historical t ...

was revived for "Entries" by rulers and similar occasions from the Early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

in 14th and 15th-century Italy, and was a major type of

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

, celebrated with great extravagance. The cars are shown as open-roofed, many clearly utilitarian four-wheeled carts dressed-up for the occasion. Others were two-wheeled chariots. In art, they might be pulled by all sorts of exotic animals. Another specialized sense of the word was an elaborate

sugar sculpture Sugar sculpture is the art of producing artistic centerpieces entirely composed of sugar and sugar derivatives. These were very popular at grand feasts from the Renaissance until at least the 18th century, and sometimes made by famous artists. ...

; these decorated tables on important occasions in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, especially in Italy and France. Eventually they were replaced by the silver

surtout de table A surtout de table is an ornamental centrepiece displayed on a formal dining table, "a large centerpiece with mirrored plateaus and numerous candelabra and other possible display pieces on top". In French ''surtout de table'' is the usual term for ...

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

centrepieces. The word may derive from a call of triumph during antique triumphal processions: "Io triumpe".

Art and literature

Triumphs were described in literature, the cars often carrying classical gods or

personified Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, countries, and continents; elements of ...

virtues, with

Petrach Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's let ...

's '' Triomphi'' (1374) being extremely influential, for example on ''

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili ''Hypnerotomachia Poliphili'' (; ), called in English ''Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream'' or ''The Dream of Poliphilus'', is a book said to be by Francesco Colonna. It is a famous example of an incunable (a work of early printing). The wor ...

'' (1499). This had

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

illustrations, and such scenes were very popular in art, perhaps culminating in the enormous woodcut ''

Large Triumphal Carriage The ''Large Triumphal Carriage'' or ''Great Triumphal Car'' (in German, ''Triumphwagen'') is a large 16th-century woodcut Old master print, print by Albrecht Dürer, commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Maximil ...

'' by

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

(1522), a triumphal car carrying the Emperor Maximilian that is the climax of the Triumphs of Maximilian (several artists). The ''

Triumphs of Caesar The ''Triumphs of Caesar'' are a series of nine large paintings created by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna between 1484 and 1492 for the Gonzaga Ducal Palace, Mantua. They depict a triumphal military parade celebrating the victor ...

'' by

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, ; ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian Renaissance painter, a student of Ancient Rome, Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with Perspective (graphical), pe ...

(by 1492) were also very influential.

Other

The Italian sculptor

Giuseppe Cassioli Giuseppe Cassioli (26 October 1865 – 5 October 1942)
,

named his

Olympic medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold medal, gold, silver medal, silver, and bronze medal, bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respect ...

design ''Trionfo''. First used in 1928, the design was used for

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

until it was replaced at the 2004 Olympic Games. File:Arco trionfale del Castel Nuovo, 08,1 trionfo di alfonso 1.jpg, Relief on the

Castel Nuovo Castel Nuovo (; ; 'New Castle'), often called Maschio Angioino (; ; ' Angevin Keep'), is a medieval castle located in front of Piazza Municipio and the city hall ( Palazzo San Giacomo) in central Naples, Campania, Italy. Its scenic location and ...

, Naples, 1470. It shows the entry of

Alfonso V of Aragon Alfonso the Magnanimous (Alfons el Magnànim in Catalan language, Catalan) (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfons V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfons I) from 1442 until his ...

after taking the city. File:Piero della Francesca 047.jpg, Allegories on the back of the double portrait of Battista Sforza and Federico Montefeltro, by

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca ( , ; ; ; – 12 October 1492) was an Italian Renaissance painter, Italian painter, mathematician and List of geometers, geometer of the Early Renaissance, nowadays chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting is charact ...

, c. 1465-1472. Horses pull Federico’s car and Battista’s is pulled by unicorns.Temperance, Fortitude, Justice and Prudence sit on Federico’s car, Battista is accompanied by Chastity and Modesty, and Charity and Faith sit at the front of her car. File:Triomphe de Josaphat.jpg, ''Triumph of

Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat (; alternatively spelled Jehosaphat, Josaphat, or Yehoshafat; ; ; ), according to the Hebrew Bible, was the son of Asa, and the fourth king of the Kingdom of Judah, in succession to his father. His children included Jehoram, who ...

'',

Jean Fouquet Jean (or Jehan) Fouquet (; – 1481) was a French painter and miniaturist. A master of panel painting and manuscript illumination, and the apparent inventor of the portrait miniature, he is considered one of the most important painters from the ...

, 1470–75. File:Triumph9-Mantegna-Julius-Caesar.jpg,

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

in his truiumphal car, in one of the nine scenes of the ''

'' by

(by 1492) File:Hypnérotomachie - éd. Martin - p55v.jpg, Woodcut illustration to ''

'', with

centaur A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...

s pulling the car, 1499. File:Titian Bacchus and Ariadne.jpg, Leopards pull

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...

's car in

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

's ''

Bacchus and Ariadne ''Bacchus and Ariadne'' (1520–1523) is an oil painting by Titian. It is one of a cycle of paintings on mythological subjects produced for Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, for the Camerino d'Alabastro – a private room in his palazzo ...

'' (1523) File:1960 Rome Olympic Games, Gold Medal, Al Oerter , Track and Field Discus Throw (2913311489).jpg, The ''Trionfo'' design of

Giuseppe Cassioli Giuseppe Cassioli (26 October 1865 – 5 October 1942)
,

on a 1960

Notes

References

* Strong, Roy, ''Feast: A History of Grand Eating'', 2002, Jonathan Cape, {{ISBN, 0224061380

External links

Material to triumphal processions
Cultural history of Italy Festivals in Italy European court festivities