2019/03/01 by Daniel M. Zolli, Christopher Brown, Christopher M. Brown
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Historical Influence and Diplomacy #Historical and Religious Studies of Rome #Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
paper · doi:10.1017/rqx.2018.6
openalex publication_date 2019/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
In June 1498, the Florentine government publicly punished and exiled the Piagnona, the lone bell of the church of San Marco, for its role in defending Girolamo Savonarola during the April siege that led to the preacher's execution. Drawing on new evidence, this essay offers the most complete account of this still poorly understood chapter in Renaissance history, examining its complex and conflicting motives. At the same time, the punishment of the Piagnona, and struggle for its return, affords uncommon insight into the culture's deepest structures of thinking about what bells were, and who had the legal authority to adjudicate their fate.