A Cultural Symbiosis : Patrician Art Patronage and Medicean Cultural Politics in Florence (1530-1610)

The prolonged influence of patricians on the cultural and artistic life in FlorenceThe history of the Florentine patriciate did not end with the establishment of the Medici Duchy and Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Proud and self-confident, these patricians were not subservient courtiers; on the contrary, they continued to exert a considerable influence on Florentine culture and politics for centuries. The patrician class in sixteenth-century Florence were the descendants of wealthy, sophisticated and politically savvy families who, while acquiring noble titles, estates, and villas, retained their long-standing urban identity. The mark they left on the city’s cultural and artistic life was embraced by the Medici, who used their political and diplomatic knowhow, eleborate artistic commissions, and European networks to enhance their power and prestige. A Cultural Symbiosis highlights the contributions to Florentine art and culture of eight patricians, focusing on the Valori, Pucci, Ridolfi, Vecchietti, del Nero, Salviati, Guicciardini, and Niccolini families.

Contributors: Carla D’Arista (Columbia University), Klazina D. Botke (University of Groningen / Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen), Julia Dijkstra (Museum MORE), Sanne Roefs (Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in The Hague), Henk Th. van Veen (University of Groningen), Bouk Wierda (Classical Academy of Art in Groningen), Andrea Zagli (University of Siena)

This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).