The Cultural Politics of Duke Cosimo I de' Medici

by Konrad Eisenbichler (Editor)

Overview

When he suddenly came to power in Italy in 1537, the young Duke Cosimo I de' Medici amazed friends and foes alike with his ability to extricate himself from mortal danger, affirm his authority and revive a dying state. He doubled the size of his duchy and established a dynasty that ruled unchallenged for 200 years. This volume is the first book-length study in any language to approach the figure of Duke Cosimo I from the point of view of his cultural agenda. The contributors examine the political, economic, cultural and linguistic strategies that made Cosimo a successful leader, and in the process illuminate the cultural world of mid-sixteenth-century Tuscany.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780754602675
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/19/2001
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.62(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction, Konrad Eisenbichler; Francesco Vettori, Francesco Guicciardini and Cosimo I: The Prince after Machiavelli, Marcello Simonetta; A republic in jeopardy: Cosimo I de’ Medici and the Republic of Lucca, Mary Hewlett; Cosimo I and the Anglo-French negotiations of 1550, Laura E. Hunt; Cellini’s trial for sodomy: power and patronage at the court of Cosimo I, Margaret A. Gallucci; Lessons from the past: The Palazzo Medici as political ’mentor’ in 16th-century Florence, Roger J. Crum; Claiming a place in history: Giorgio Vasari’s Ragionamenti and the primacy of the Medici, Paola Tinagli; Cosimo’s cavallo: A study in imperial imagery, Mary Weitzel Gibbons; Lorenzo Torrentino and the cultural programme of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Antonio Ricci; The Reception of Dante in the Time of Cosimo I, Mary Alexandra Watt; Fasseli gratia per poetessa: Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici’s role in the Florentine literary circle of Tullia d’ Aragona, Deana Basile; Cosimo and Eleanora in Sheperdland: A lost eclogue by Laura Battiferra degli Ammannati, Victoria Kirkham; The Accademia del Disegno and Fellowships of Discourse at the court of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Karen-edis Barzman; Ritual and parody in mid-cinquecento Florence: Cosimo de’ Medici and the Accademia del Piano, Domenico Zanrè; An experimental culture: the art of the economy and the economy of art of Cosimo I and Francesco I; Philip Gavitt; The High Baroque Tapestries of the Life of Cosimo I: the man and his myth in the service of Ferdinando II, James Harper; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'This important collection of fifteen essays[...]is essential reading for anyone who is interested in the history of Florence or sixteenth-century culture.' Renaissance Journal 'The Cosimo that emerges from these pages is canny, focused and little short of brilliant in his ability to see the parts and the whole, and manipulate the parts to create the whole.' Renaissance Quarterly 'It is surprising that Duke Cosimo's cultural politics have received so little attention from English-speaking scholars of late Renaissance/Early Modern Italy and this book is all the more welcome because it fills succinctly such an important gap... Such a fine collection of articles should be a stimulus to further research...' Parergon 'These articles, together with Konrad Eisenbichler's excellent introduction, provide a much needed addition [...] and offer an example fo the complexity and diversity of current studies of the relationships between politics and culture.' Canadian Journal of History '... excellent and innovative...' Italian Studies

From the Publisher