15thc perception on swallowtail merlons?

[Pierre Dumont Himself]

Some observations on the Torre del Pegol in Brescia. We know that the 12th-century tower received a Gothic-style restoration in 1434, followed by multiple rounds of repairs until the mid-16th century. Since the current swallowtail merlons were added in 1830, I assumed they did not exist before, but the evidence is not so straightforward.

The first depiction we have is from 1530, but the outline of the merlons is unclear. This is also the last time the castle had swallowtail merlons. Between Donato Rascicotti's plan of 1599 and the 1904 expo, the castle is awlays shown with a bare front wall and a Guelph tower on the left, except in Francesco Maffei's painting. It probably acquired this appearance during the final pre-modern restoration in the late 16th century.

Note that the Torre del Pegol is completely absent. If we count only the drawings in which the tower does appear, we obtain an unusual sequence. In chronological order: Unclear, Guelph and Roofed, Guelph, Roofed, Guelph, Roofed, Roofed, Roofed, Swallowtail, Swallowtail, Guelph/Ruined, Guelph/Ruined, Guelph/Ruined, Swallowtail, Guelph/Ruined. 

Although there is no early evidence for swallowtail merlons on the Torre del Pegol, the depictions are so inconsistent that we cannot say for sure what they looked like throughout the centuries. Why did Francesco Battaglioli draw merlons on the Broletto, which never had them, and the Torre del Pegol, only to show Guelph or ruined merlons in two later drawings? One explanation is that he attempted a rare reconstruction of an earlier period. If so, the same can be argued of Francesco Maffei's painting and the 1764 plan. However, I am not aware of any other instance in which swallowtail merlons were similarly reconstructed by an artist. An alternative explanation is that the tower had swallowtail merlons between the mid-17th century, when it lost its roof, and the mid-18th century, when only the base of the merlons was still visible. Whatever the case, the late fifteenth-century Torre della Pallata, the early 16th-century restoration of swallowtail merlons on the castle (as depicted in 1530), the Maffei painting and the drawings of the Torre del Pegol suggest that swallowtail merlons remained part of the architectural repertoire without interruption.


Reupload of the Maffei painting and the 1530 fresco.

The late architect and historian Valentino Volta (d. 2025) mentions Guelph merlons before the 1830 restoration, but we may never know if his comment was based on better evidence than the ruined merlons in our drawings.

Nel corso dei secoli la parte terminale coi merli venne probabilmente rifatta più volte, perchè la più esposta ai danni. Nel 1830, podestà un Averoldi di tradizione ghibellina, vennero rifatti i merli a coda di rondine, come attualmente li vediamo, a sostituzione di quelli esistenti a terminazione piana (guelfi). Fu usata la pietra di corna di Botticino perchè considerata più resistente.

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