Imago Triumphalis: The Function and Significance of Triumphal Imagery for Italian Renaissance Rulers

The triumphal procession was a prominent and important iconographical tool used by Italian Renaissance rulers in an effort to create and enforce a powerful personal mythology. Independent rulers in fifteenth-century Italy used the motif of the Roman triumph or pompa triumphalis, for self-aggrandizement and personal expression. The image of the triumph, for them, became an immensely significant concetto used in the construction of their personal image.
The triumphal motif was personalized and used, often in a propagandistic fashion, to illustrate to the court and the public a ruler’s individual admirable qualities. The iconographical construction of the triumphal motif remained virtually unchanged from its Roman prototype while its meaning and intention shifted radically depending upon who used it. Renaissance rulers engaged the motif in a variety of media and in both public and personal manifestations to exemplify and glorify their own personal identities.
The interest in triumphal arches, processions and imagery coincided with and was fostered by the revival of classical antiquity in all its forms which developed during the Renaissance. The triumphal arch and triumphal procession were recognized in the Renaissance as tangible and powerful bearers of meaning which immediately reflected the power and glory of classical antiquity. Furthermore, for Renaissance rulers, triumphal imagery represented a genre which was replete with connotations of power, victory, rulership, and splendor.