The ratings/reviews displayed here may not be representative of every listing on this page, or of every review for these listings. Reports of these new lands, peoples, plants, animals, and precious materials fascinated Cosimo and his sons, the future dukes Francesco (1541–1587) and Ferdinando (1549–1609).

As a result of their efforts, Renaissance Florence boasted one of the largest collections of objects from the New World as well as representations of the Americas in a variety of media. During this period Medici court artists began to create more inventive and sometimes allegorical depictions of the Americas, but this practice reached its apogee at the end of the sixteenth century and beginning of the seventeenth century. This was the time of Savonarola, the fiery anti-humanist, but also Botticelli, Brunelleschi, and Machiavelli.This book is absolutely enthralling, detailing the massive influence the family had on Florence’s cultural, political, and economic history.

Strathern ( Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of a Renaissance City, 2015, etc. Several scholars have argued that the initial response to the New World represented Europe’s conception of its own identity more than any reality of the Americas themselves. They will have help from one of the most renowned painters of their era—the peaceful and kind Leonardo da Vinci. The first full-length study of the impact of the discovery of the Americas on Italian Renaissance art and culture, Imagining the Americas in Medici Florence demonstrates that the Medici grand dukes of Florence were not only great patrons of artists but also early conservators of American culture. The series also stars several well-known actors, including Richard Madden ( Game of Thrones), Dustin Hoffman, and Sean Bean (isn’t he in every costume drama?Gloriously fresh and vivid, with a deliciously irreverent heroine, The Botticelli Secret is an irresistible blend of history, wit, and suspense.

Markey demonstrates that Italian artists worked not to exoticize but to familiarize the new and, in doing so, engaged with America in complex and contradictory ways. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. A vivid, dramatic, and authoritative account of perhaps the most influential family in Italian history: the Medici. Botticelli immediately invites Simonetta, newly proclaimed the most beautiful woman in Florence, to pose for him.

John Elliot also famously claimed that following the discovery Europe was unable to comprehend the magnitude of the event and as a consequence developed its responses gradually. The most famous member of the Medici family, the true engine of the Renaissance, a highly cultured man and the richest banker in Europe. It either demonstrates a deteriorating memory on my part or is a testament to the quality and entertainment value of the book; I like to think the latter. But Hibbert's book is about the entirety of the Medici lives, not just their enormous contribution to the Arts.

Scholars of Italian and American art history will especially welcome and benefit from Markey’s insight. From her childhood in Florence, to the marriage with the son of the King of France, then becoming the queen, and fighting to protect the throne for her sons’ birthrights. His life and work inspired four of the novels included in this post, and you’ll find several more on Art In Fiction. Finally, this first chapter turns to Rome and demonstrates how and why Medici popes were some of the first Italians to collect and represent the Americas. A dazzling piece of Italian history of the infamous family that become one of the most powerful in Europe, weaving its history with Renaissance greats from Leonardo da Vinci to Galileo.The shift in the representation of the Americas in Florence demonstrates that it was through inventive allegorical imagery that the New World became integrated into Florentine culture as a political reality and even as a subject of patriotism. Just as Medicean artists and their patrons cast their city as heir to the legacy of ancient Rome, Markey shows the myriad ways in which they were able to reimagine Florence as the discoverer and the master of the New World through the power of representation. It has always struck me how any layman is acquainted with the term Renaissance and has heard of artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo, and how the Medicis-whose patronage and sometimes protection, enabled Florence to become the centre of the Renaissance-, are barely discussed.