#ludovico de medici

[illustratus]

Detail of the Statue of Italian Condottiero Lodovico de' Medici, also known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere

“Non mi snudare senza ragione. Non mi impugnare senza valore.”

“Do not unsheathe me without reason. Do not wield me without valour.��

[sapplejack]

We need a fighting game where the fighters are historical figures from the Renaissance. I want to play as Michelangelo by spamming hammer swinging/punches at Raphael who, in turn, would be the kind of character to punish such moves at a super high rate. Cesare Borgia and Micheletto Corella would be OP to the point they get over-nerfed down the line. Caterina & Ludovico Sforza players would def be pluggers, while the toxicity of Roberto Sanseverino mains would know no bounds. Lorenzo de Medici and Isabella d'Este mains would be really chill, almost fun to play a match against, but encountered rarely due to the complexity of their characters' tech.

[camisoledadparis]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … December 11

1475 – Pope Leo X (d.1521), born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, was the Pope from 1513 to his death in 1521. He was the last non-priest (only a deacon) to be elected Pope. He is known for granting indulgences for those who donated to reconstruct St. Peter's Basilica and his challenging of Martin Luther's 95 Theses. He was the second son of Lorenzo de' Medici, the most famous ruler of the Florentine Republic, and Clarice Orsini. His cousin, Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, would later succeed him as Pope Clement VII (1523-34).

Several modern historians have concluded that Leo was homosexual. Contemporary tracts and accounts such as that of Francesco Guicciardini have been found to allude to active same-sex relations - alleging Count Ludovico Rangone and Galeotto Malatesta were among his lovers.

Cesare Falconi has examined in particular Leo's infatuation with the Venetian noble Marcantonio Flaminio, with Leo arranging the best education that could be offered for the time. Von Pastor has argued, however, against the credibility of these testimonies, and rejected accusations of immorality as anti-papal polemic. Gucciardini was not resident at the papal court during Leo's pontificate, while other contemporaries such as Matteo Herculano took pains to praise his chastity. Paul Strathern, a British writer and academic, argues that Leo, while homosexual, was not sexually active as pope, despite identifying notable members of that family as such.

Jean Cocteau and Jean Marais

1913 – Jean Marais, French actor (d.1998); Marais was never much of an actor, and it is doubtful he would have achieved international fame had he not become Jean Cocteau's lover, but he was, by universal acclaim, one of the most handsome men ever to appear in films. In the 1940s when he made most of his movies for Cocteau, actors were still slicking down their hair with Kreml and Vitalis. But he changed all that. His cheveaux fous and athletic good looks created a new style of postwar leading man.

Cocteau and Marais

When in 1946 he spent his time in Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast, trapped within an ape-like constume, waiting for Beauty's kiss to turn him once again into Jean Marais, Gay moviegoers around the world secretly wished that they were Josette Day who actually got to kiss the handsome actor's furry face. What is perhaps most interesting about the friendship between Cocteau and Marais is that the actor's face in profile bore an astonishing resemblance to the boys Cocteau had been sketching for thirty years before meeting him.

In the 1960s, he played the famed villain of the Fantômas trilogy. After 1970, Marais's on-screen performances became few and far between, as he preferred concentrating on his stage work. He kept performing on stage until his eighties, also working as a sculptor. In 1985, he was the head of the jury at the 35th Berlin International Film Festival.

1945 – John Preston (d.1994) was an author of gay erotica and an editor of gay nonfiction anthologies.

He grew up in Medfield, Massachusetts, later living in a number of major American cities before settling in Portland, Maine in 1979. A writer of fiction and nonfiction, dealing mostly with issues in gay life, he was a pioneer in the early gay rights movement in Minneapolis. He helped found one of the earliest gay community centers in the United States, edited two newsletters devoted to sexual health, and served as editor of The Advocate in 1975.

He was the author or editor of nearly fifty books, including such erotic landmarks as Mr. Benson and I Once Had a Master and Other Tales of Erotic Love. Other works include Franny, the Queen of Provincetown (first a novel, then adapted for stage), The Big Gay Book: A Man's Survival Guide for the Nineties, Personal Dispatches: Writers Confront AIDS, and Hometowns: Gay Men Write About Where They Belong.

Preston's writing (which he described as pornography) was part of a movement in the 1970s and 1980s toward higher literary quality in gay erotic fiction. Preston was an outspoken advocate of the artistic and social worth of erotic writings, delivering a lecture at Harvard University entitled My Life as a Pornographer. The lecture was later published in an essay collection with the same name. The collection includes Preston's thoughts about the gay leather community, to which he belonged.

His writings caused controversy when he was one of several gay and lesbian authors to have their books confiscated at the border by Canada Customs. Testimony regarding the literary merit of his novel I Once Had a Master helped a Vancouver LGBT bookstore, Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium, to partially win a case against Canada Customs in the Canadian Supreme Court in 2000.

Preston also brought gay erotic fiction to mainstream readers by editing the Flesh and the Word anthologies for a major press.

Preston served as a journalist and essayist throughout his life. He wrote news articles for Drummer and other gay magazines, produced a syndicated column on gay life in Maine, and penned a column for Lambda Book Report called "Preston on Publishing." His nonfiction anthologies, which collected essays by himself and others on everyday aspects of gay and lesbian life, won him the Lambda Literary Award and the American Library Association's Stonewall Book Award. He was especially noted for his writings on New England.

In addition, Preston wrote men's adventure novels under the pseudonyms of Mike McCray, Preston MacAdam, and Jack Hilt (pen names that he shared with other authors). Taking what he had learned from authoring those books, he wrote the "Alex Kane" adventure novels about gay characters. These books, which included "Sweet Dreams," "Golden Years," and "Deadly Lies," combined action-story plots with an exploration of issues such as the problems facing gay youth.

Preston was among the first writers to popularize the genre of safe sex stories, editing a safe sex anthology entitled Hot Living in 1985. He helped to found the AIDS Project of Southern Maine. In the late 1980s, he discovered that he himself was HIV positive.

Some of his last essays, found in his nonfiction anthologies and in his posthumous collection Winter's Light, describe his struggle to come emotionally to terms with a disease that had already killed many of his friends and fellow writers.

He died of AIDS complications on April 28, 1994, aged 48, at his home in Portland.

1948 – Alvin Baltrop (d.2004) was a gay African-American photographer who earned fame through his photographs of the Hudson River piers during the 1970s and 1980s.

Baltrop was born in 1948 in the Bronx. He discovered his love of photography in junior high school. Baltrop received no formal art education; older photographers from the neighborhood taught him different techniques and how to develop photos himself.

Baltrop enlisted in the Navy as a medic during the Vietnam War and continued taking photos, mainly of his friends in sexually provocative poses. He built his own developing lab in the sick bay, using medic trays for developing trays. After his time in the Navy, Baltrop worked odd jobs as a street vendor, a jewelry designer, a printer, and a cab driver. Because he wanted to spend more time taking photos at the Hudson River piers, he quit his job as a cab driver to become a self-employed mover. He would park his van at the piers for days at a time, living out of his van to take pictures.

From 1975 through 1986, Baltrop took photographs of the West Side piers, where he was a well-known member of the community. Baltrop knew every person he photographed, and people often volunteered to be photographed. Younger boys and men at the piers often confided in him about their sexual orientation, their relationships with their families, their housing status, and their work.

Baltrop captured the gay cruising spots and hookup culture that existed in New York City before the AIDS epidemic. Baltrop's photographs not only captured human personalities, but also the aesthetics of the dilapidated piers. His life work is a snapshot of gay, African-American, and New York City history.

Baltrop struggled to make his way in the art world, facing racism from the white gay art world. Gay curators often rejected his work, accused him of stealing it, or stole his work themselves.

"Three Sailors"

Late during the 1990s, NYC artist John Drury, who knew Alvin from their shared neighborhood - Drury living on Third Street, with his wife and Baltrop on Second Street, in lower Manhattan - befriended the artist and recognized the photographers unique abilities, nominating him for a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award for the Arts. Alvin Baltrop had few exhibits in his lifetime; his work gaining international fame only after his death.

According to one journalist, Baltrop came out as gay at fourteen years old. Baltrop had long term relationships with men and women, but preferred identifying as gay.

Baltrop was diagnosed with cancer in the 1990s. Impoverished and without health insurance, curators and filmmakers attempted to exploit him for their own financial gain. He died on February 1, 2004

1990 – Nakshatra Bagwe, born in Mumbai, India, is an Indian actor and award winning film maker. Nakshatra will be making his Indian feature film debut in My Son is Gay and is due for his international film debut as the lead actor of Hearts. His films Logging Out, Book of Love, Curtains and PR (Public Relations) represent the current LGBT scenario of India.

He is a LGBT rights activist and also an organiser of Gujarat's first ever pride march. Nakshatra has participated in several Pride Parades in India. He won KASHISH – Mumbai International Queer Film Festival in 2012 for his debut film Logging Out. It was screened at prestigious venues like Queens Museum of Arts (New York), The Old Cinema (London) and it was also a part of Queer India European tour 2012 to raise awareness about LGBT issues in the Indian context.

Nakshatra hails from Konkan coastal region. Masure, Malvan is his native village. He takes part in homosexuality awareness projects. Nakshatra and his mother were featured in a promo of popular Indian television show Satyamev Jayte. He came out to society when he participated in Asia’s first LGBT flashmob. He also participated in second queer flashmob which happened at Dadar station, Mumbai. Nakshatra posed nude for a campaign named 'Breaking Closets'.

In July 2014, He became the brand ambassador of Moovz, a global social network for gay men. Nakshatra is first and only openly Indian LGBT person to be signed up as the brand ambassador by any brand till now.

1998 – At a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in Denver, a resolution was passed rejecting reparative therapy. It stated that attempts to change a person's sexual orientation can cause depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behaviour. A similar resolution was passed by the American Psychological Association in August 1997. Dr. Nada Stotland, head of the association's public affairs committee, told the Denver Post that the very existence of reparative therapy spreads the idea that homosexuality is a disease or evil and has a dehumanizing effect resulting in an increase in discrimination, harassment, and violence against gays, lesbians, and bisexuals.

[sforzesco]

also I'm sorry but tell me more about your Giuliano thoughts because Giuliano is the reason I'm in all of this and he gives me EMOTIONS my poor sad boy 🗡️🥀

shdhdh I had to type out a rough draft in reply in a writing doc and even then my thoughts are a little more abstract, but oh man. giuliano.

my favorite niche focus is brothers and grief/love that transgresses or transcends accepted/expected boundaries. lucullus and his brother, with lucullus waiting until his brother was old enough to hold office with him, and his biography from plutarch closing the same way it opened. with his brother. there's catullus and his brother, where his grief breaks both performances of gender and geography.

Catullan Myths: Gender, Mourning, and the Death of a Brother, Aaron M. Seider

there's ludovico and ascanio sforza. a singular defining moment for ludovico is the death of beatrice, there is a marked before or after in the man, her death has changed him irrevocably. to find ludovico, you must go to where his wife has been interred. when it seems like ascanio will die, ludovico's plans are to bring his brother's corpse back to milan and to inter the body in the same holy space as his wife. milan is a grave multiple times over.

giuliano occupies a similar space. the love the brothers medici have for each other is what makes them complementary to each other in terms of personality and function, but it's also what prompts lorenzo to a truly spectacular scale of violence that cannot contain itself. it's foundational violence! from here on out, the violence will escalate in coming generations. the punishment for the crime of his brother cascades out well beyond the point of justice, and eclipses base revenge. nothing short of absolute annihilation will do, no portraits, nothing will remain except a very sharp outline of a terrible act that was half your own making! how great is that love! it was here, it did not make anything better, and has instead made a lot of things worse.

also I'm obsessed with how giuliano has such a sharp read on francesco de' pazzi from machiavelli's writing of the event. I bet he saw his death coming.

[joseandrestabarnia]

Venus italiana de Antonio Canova (Italia, Possagno, 1 de noviembre de 1757 - Venecia, 13 de octubre de 1822)

Descripción Fecha: 1812 Museo: Palacio Pitti Recopilación: Galería Palatina Colocación: Salón de Venus Técnica: Mármol Dimensiones: Altura 171,5 cm Inventario: 1912 n. 878

En 1802, de paso por Florencia y en el apogeo de su fama, Antonio Canova recibió del rey de Etruria, Ludovico di Borbone, el encargo de realizar una copia de la Venus de los Medici, la escultura de mármol del siglo I a.C. que, ya expuesta en el centro de la Tribuna de los Uffizi, el 11 de septiembre del mismo año fue requisado por las autoridades francesas para ser destinado al Louvre. Inicialmente, reacio a la idea de la réplica, el escultor veneciano, finalmente aceptó, atraído tanto por la propuesta de sustituir una obra maestra, como por la fuerte connotación patriótica que la empresa había adquirido inmediatamente. Sin embargo, mientras tanto Canova tuvo la idea de desafiar la antigua estatua con una Venus de pie, esta vez de su propia invención. Este prestigioso encargo le fue confirmado en 1805 por la reina regente de Etruria, María Luisa de Borbón y la idea de una reproducción del antiguo acabó quedando de lado. En 1809 la nueva soberana Elisa Baciocchi, recién instalada como Gran Duquesa de Toscana por su hermano Napoleón, logró convencer al emperador de que pagara a Canova los 25.000 francos acordados y el 29 de abril de 1812 la Venus cursiva llegó a la tribuna de la Galería Imperial de Florencia, pero, en lugar de sobre el pedestal de la estatua de los Medici traída a Francia, se colocó sobre una nueva base giratoria, para resaltar la novedad de la creación. De hecho, la divinidad Canova se desvió del ilustre modelo, siendo representada en el momento en que ella se seca modestamente después de salir del baño, con el jarrón de ungüentos perfumados a sus pies. La nueva escultura, cuya modernidad se destacó inmediatamente en comparación con el antiguo prototipo, tuvo un enorme éxito, que la convirtió en objeto de una vasta literatura crítica y protagonista de numerosos sonetos, incluido el de Giovanni Rosini, que la bautizó con el título de “Itálica”. Ugo Foscolo, comparándola con la Venus de los Medici, la definió como "una mujer hermosa, capaz de enamorarte, mientras que la antigua es una diosa impasible, aunque hermosa". En la obra de Canova, de hecho, la gracia natural se acentúa frente a la convencionalidad de la belleza ideal expresada en el ejemplo helenístico, gracias a la postura más dinámica y a las dimensiones ligeramente mayores, que la hacen tan alta como una mujer real.

Tras la caída de Napoleón, en 1815 Canova viajó a París como emisario del Estado pontificio para negociar la restitución de las obras robadas por Bonaparte y la antigua Venus volvió a ocupar su lugar en la Tribuna, mientras que la Itálica, ahora derrocada, fue trasladada a el Palacio Pitti.

Texto por Elena Marconi; Arianna Borgo

Información de la web de la Gallerie degli Uffizi, fotografías de mi autoría.

[robin-in-the-library]

badly worded thoughts about so called tyrannicides during Renaissance (I am specifically looking at late 15th century) after a conversation with a professor first of all, what even is a tyrant? because it’s a concept that changed through time. is a tyrant someone who rules without legitimacy? (but what even is legitimacy? a made-up thing to be used in one’s favour and against one’s enemies?) is a tyrant someone who rules with violence? (but are all lords and politicians tyrants then? at a time when violence is necessarily tied to political power?) second of all, tyrannicide has a narrative associated to it, that narrative is to be taken into consideration when dealing with accounts of political assassinations— the parallelisms between Lorenzo de’ Medici and Cesare have been already spoken about but, if we take someone who did die in a congiura, such as Galeazzo Maria Sforza, it becomes more evident. He’s tyrannical. Where? All accounts of qualities which would justify his being a tyrant tend to come from people close to Ludovico’s later court (the Ludovico that was probably involved in the assassination, yes, the Ludovico that was very interest in delegitimising his brother’s rule to legitimise his own). Most speak of qualities which wouldn’t be amiss on any other lord of the time (temperamental? didn’t know that was a determining factor for being a tyrant—) or focus heavily on his “lust”. His father had much much more illegitimate children than him. His brother Ludovico had Leonardo da Vinci mostly paint his many lovers while in Milano. But Galeazzo’s “lust” is a sign of his tyrannical nature. Never mind it is unlikely he did lay with Lampugnani’s wife because he was head over heels for Lucia Marliani at the time and that the “taking” of another man’s wife is a trope in tyrannicides (looking at Tarquinius Superbus). anyway, I dunno, bitter history student grumbling over, here’s your daily reminder to contextualise your sources and never take them at face value

[bm2ab]

Crowd Scenes . 09 November 2024 . Triptic . Andrea Mantegna

Ascension of Christ Adoration of the Magi Presentation of Christ at the Temple Andrea Mantegna (Isola di Carturo (PD) 1431 - Mantua 1506)

Today the three panels form part of a triptych inserted in a Renaissance-style frame dating back to the 19th century. This is therefore an arbitrary reconstruction, and the original context must have been very different. The three scenes depict three Gospel stories. The one in the center illustrates, with many figures and details, the homage of the Magi to Baby Jesus, who sits on the lap of the Virgin Mary in the glory of angels and under the watchful gaze of the elderly Joseph. The natural scenery in which the episode is set is replaced in the scene on the right by a sumptuous and majestic architecture: the temple where Mary, according to Jewish custom, went to purify herself forty days after giving birth and where Jesus received the circumcision. The scene depicts Jesus in his mother's arms, retreating in fear before the priest who is about to perform the rite. On the other hand, the scene on the left is part of the stories of post-mortem Christ, and describes the last episode narrated in the Gospel of Luke, namely the ascension to heaven of the risen Christ, in the presence of his mother Mary and the apostles.

The three panels were part of a decorative cycle created by Andrea Mantegna and commissioned by Ludovico Gonzaga (1412-1478) for the chapel of the Saint George Castle in Mantua, which was lost due to subsequent renovations of the building. To the same cycle also belonged the scene of the Death of the Virgin, which is currently divided between Madrid (Prado Museum, inv. no. 248) and Ferrara (National Art Gallery inv. no. 333) and, perhaps, the Resurrection of Christ and Descent into Limbo, divided between Bergamo, Accademia Carrara, and a private collection. However, the reconstruction of the pictorial cycle, as well as its original location and the time of its execution, are still largely debated. The concave shape of the panel with the Adoration of the Magi, which is also wider than the other panels (while originally it must have been of the same height), suggests that the painting was made to fit a curved wall, probably a niche or a small apse in the chapel.

The creation of the pictorial cycle in the chapel of the Saint George Castle coincides with the period in which Andrea Mantegna moved from Padua to Mantua, where he was documented as early as 1460 and where he stayed until his death, thus becoming the favourite painter of the reigning family, the Gonzaga.

The three panels now in the Uffizi became famous in Florence in the collection of Don Antonio de' Medici (1576-1621), which he had inherited from his parents, Grand Duke Francesco I and Bianca Cappello, both died in 1587. It is believed that Francesco received the paintings on the occasion of the wedding of his daughter Eleonora with Vincenzo I Gonzaga in 1584.

Among the greatest interpreters and promoters of the renewal of north Italian painting following a Renaissance style, Andrea Mantegna was skilled in the use of perspective, as it is also revealed by how the sense of depth is given through the chequered floor in the scene of the Presentation at the Temple. The painter showed a keen interest in the culture and art of the ancient Greco-Roman civilization, on which he concentrated almost with the spirit of an archaeologist. He was an extraordinary draughtsman and managed to translate into painting Donatello's sculpture (1386-1466), who was active for a long time in Padua, Mantegna's birthplace.

[dw-news]

The Chinese generally!

Faking in China dates from at least the Sung Dynasty (960-1280) when the wealthy began to collect art. Forged paintings were mostly made by students seeking to imitate the masters. It still seems a common practice!

14th Century, Italian stone carvers:

The stone carvers lead the way in commercially forgery, faking works of art by imitating Greek and Roman master craftsmen and creating sculptures which could and were to be sold to the rich as authentic antiques! Much the same tale as that of their Roman counterparts.

Jacopo di Poggibonsi: (1418-1449) Italian

There are many contemporary critics at the University of Michigan who label Jacopo di Poggibonsi as a "master forger". This criticism stems from his purported imitation of the works of Fra Filippo Lippi which Cosimo de' Medici in about 1447 realised he had copied elements of, from an Adoration hanging in the Medici Palace. However, many artists of the time engaged in imitations of the earlier styles and after all, in translation from the French renaissance does mean, "rebirth." Clearly, many Renaissance artists not only imitated earlier forms of art, but also each other's recent works. It was standard practise.

History according to U of M has it however that Lippi was outraged and is believed to have hired paid muscle to track down di Poggibonsis' studio where more alleged copies were found.

A few days later, thirty-one year old Jacopo, is found murdered in his bed.

All in all a good story but sadly untrue.

Art History Students are advised to check this out very carefully. All may not be as it seems!

Piero del Pollaiuolo: (1443-1496) Italian

Made pastiches (copies) of works by artists such as Sandro Botticelli as illustrated here on the right.

His, Profile of a woman is a straight copy of Portrait of a Woman (La Bella Simonetta) and this reproduction is now housed in the Museo Poldi-Pezzoli in Milan.

Michelangelo di Ludovico di Lionardo di Buonarroti Simoni: (1475-1564) Italian

It's widely believed that the worlds greatest sculptor Michaelangelo as a student, forged an "antique" marble cupid for his patron, Lorenzo de' Medici.

It is certainly recorded that he also produced many replicas of the drawings of Italian painter Domenico Ghirlandajo (1449–1494) which were so good that on seeing them Ghirlandajo thought they were from his own hand. “He also copied drawings of the old masters so perfectly that his copies could not be distinguished from the originals, since he smoked and tinted the paper to give it an appearance of age. He was often able to keep the originals and return the copies in their stead.” Vasari on Michaelangelo

Colantonio

Neapolitan painter also known as Colantuono was appreciated as an imitator of the Flemish masters such as van Eyck and for making fake drawings by Dürer.

Marcantonio Raimondi: Italian (1480c. - 1534)

Interested in German engraving, he affected copper numerous woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer.

According to Vasari he made ​​17 copies of Dürer selling them as originals.

[ergonauticus]

Zenéjét szerezte: Josquin Desprez A forgatókönyvet írta: Niccolò Machiavelli (fuh, nem!) Ludovico Ariosto Szakértő: (nem volt) Vágó: Girolamo Savonarola Gyártásvezető: Giuliano di Lorenzo de’ Medici Rendezte: Ludovico Ariosto

Ritka fotó a régi időkből Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci Madonna Lisa Gherardini del Giocondoval Firenzében, 1504. 🙃

[armthearmour]

The Funerary Armor of Ludovico Giovanni “delle Bande Nere” de Medici

Born Ludovico de Medici, Giovanni of the Black Bands was widely regarded as one of the best military commanders of his day. He commanded the love of his men and the respect and fear of his enemies. As a condotierro, Giovanni made his living as a sword for hire, the commander of a formidable mercenary band which saw action in the wars which rocked the Italian peninsula from 1494 until 1559. Giovanni himself got his start as a commander for the Papal forces in the 1516 War of Urbino. From 1521 until 1524, hired by Emperor Chalres V, Giovanni would defeat the French armies invading Italy time and time again until finally, under Papal order, the Medici was forced to switch sides and fight with the French. Shortly thereafter, Giovanni was wounded by an arquebus shot to his right leg, which would require months to heal.

In 1526 war once again broke out, this time seeing France allied with a coalition of the major Italian states against the Imperial and Spanish crowns. Once again, Giovanni found success against the Imperial troops, but it was not to last. On the 25th of November that same year, at the battle of Governolo, Giovanni was once again shot in the right leg, this time by a falconetta, a piece of small artillery. An account written by Pietro Aretino, a friend to Giovanni, tells of how the condotierro was rushed to the nearby city of Mantua, where the court physician of the Lord Luigi Gonzaga amputated the leg just below the knee. In the ensuing days, the wound became gangrenous, and five days after he had received the wound, on November 30th 1526, the great Giovanni delle Bande Nere died.

Ever the soldier, the condotierro was buried in his armor. To date, his body has been exhumed from its resting place three times: once in 1857, again in 1946-7 when the armor was recovered, and finally in 2012, when an extensive paleopathological study was conducted on the remains. This study corroborated the story of Giovanni’s amputation, finding that his right leg was indeed amputated just below the knee shortly before his death.

Giovanni’s armor is now on display at the Museo Stibbert in Florence, Italy. A high end piece made from solid steel, Giovanni’s armor reflects the standards of the armor of his day very well. A smooth, globose breastplate provides a glancing surface for not only lances and pikes, but also the gunfire a military man would face on the early 16th century battlefield. Low-profile, well articulated spaulders protect the outer shoulder and upper arm while providing a great deal of mobility, and long, articulated tassets come down to the knee to provide the characteristic three-quarter appearance of many armors of the period.

Seeing this armor on display, one might find it in a remarkable state of preservation for a piece which encased a corpse for over 400 years, however the viewer would be missing an important and unfortunate piece of the story. The armor as it appears today is heavily restored.

The book l’Arte dell’Armatura in Italia by Lionello Boccia provides an important look at what the armor looked like prior to its restoration. Published in 1967, the images contained in the work show the armor as it had been recovered 20 years earlier. Unfortunately very little of the armor actually survived, and much of what is today on view is modern guesswork.

The helmet currently displayed with the armor is original, however it did not belong to Giovanni delle Bande Nere. Instead it is a helmet of German manufacture, and became associated with the surviving elements of the armor when it was displayed at the Stibbert in the mid 20th century. Additionally the long articulated tassets, the gauntlets, the backplate, and the articulated gorget which protects the neck are all modern fabrications aged to match the armor. The only elements of the armor which are original are the breastplate and some elements of the left arm, all of which were heavily corroded.

Many of the thinner elements of the breastplate were pockmarked with holes. The lower lames were heavily corroded, and the right armscye was barely holding itself together.

The upper left portion of the breastplate’s top edge was also missing.

The left arm spaulder survived relatively intact, with some damage to its lower lames, a missing chunk on the upper upper anterior portion, and a narrow strip corroded away where a flute had decorated the piece. The left couter (the piece which protected the elbow) survived in remarkably good condition. These pieces served as the basis for which the right arm harness was reconstructed, however as the lower cannons did not survive, their form on the reconstructed piece had to be inferred from other surviving pieces.

As no portraits depicting Giovanni wearing this armor seem to have survived, it is impossible to know how the armor looked in its working life. In its present state, the armor seems rather plain, particularly in comparison with other armors of the same style from this period. Having belonged to a man from a wealthy family who had a successful military career, it is quite possible that this piece may have been etched and gilded in the fabulous style of the day, however after being corroded for over 400 years, all trace of any embellishment has vanished. Additionally the actual form of the missing elements may never be known for certain, however the reconstruction as it stands today is well researched, and pulled heavily from other sources, and so remains a plausible reconstruction.

[italianartsociety]

Fit for Ducal Patronage: A Quartet of Quattrocento Florentine Painters

At some point during Leonardo da Vinci’s first Milanese period, Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, must have sent word to Florence in order to seek recommendations for other Florentine painters that he could patronise. Although the written request has not so far been uncovered, an archived reply to the enquiry does exist. Presumably from a Florentine agent, the note reads as follows:

Sandro di Botticelli, a most excellent painter in panel and fresco, his things have a manly air and also have very good organisation and complete balance. 

Filippino di Fra Filippo [Lippi], very good, pupil of the above, and son of the most remarkable master of his time, his things have a gentler air, I don’t think they have as much skill.

Perugino, an outstanding master, especially in fresco, his things have an angelic air, very gentle.

Domenico di Ghirlandaio, good master in panel and more in fresco, his things have a good air, and he is very expeditious and does a lot of work.

All these above-named painters proved themselves in the Sistine Chapel except Filippono, but all of them at the Ospadaletto of Lord Lorenzo [de’ Medici], and the choice is almost even. 

References: Creighton E. Gilbert, Sources and Documents in the History of Art Series: Italian Art 1400-1500, ed. H. W. Janson, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1980, pp. 138-139.

Images: Sandro Botticelli, Detail from Adoration of the Magi, 1475-1475, tempera on panel, Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Wikimedia Commons. 

Filippino Lippi, Detail from The Dispute with Simon Magus, 1481-1482, fresco, Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence. Wikimedia Commons. 

Pietro Perugino, Self Portrait, 1497-1500, fresco, Collegio del Cambio, Perugia. Wikimedia Commons. 

Domenico Girlandaio, Detail from Adoration of the Magi, 1485–1488, tempera on panel, Ospedale degli Innocenti, Florence. 

By Samantha Hughes-Johnson.

[myrxellabaratheon]

Francesco Sforza: I’ve never really understood mecenatism until I met Cosimo, now I’d pay whoever can hold a pencil to make them do a portrait of my handsome Florentine banker.

Ludovico Sforza, learning from his dad and as gay for a Medici as Francesco was: Lorenzo, I am here to offer you the best gift ever: here, have one of the greatest engineer, architect, scientist and painter of our generation!

Leonardo: I’m not sure this is how this thing works...

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

He is very much a quiet but persistent background figure! Absolutely. Everyone mentions him, but he gets little to no front-and-centre stage time. I think it's because, if he did produce any poetic or philosophic materials, they didn't survive.

He went to all the nerdy parties where they would pick a topic and monologue on it for a bit. Or debate certain philosophical positions. We know he was very much a participant at all those things - so he was part of the "in" crowd of the Platonic crew. That said, I don't seen him as part of the Medici inner circles.

Like, Poliziano and, later, Pico straddled the two groups - Medici court and Ficino's philosophic and poetic groups. Ficino also used to be more in the Medici court life but that changed in the 1470s. Cavalcanti only ever seems to have been in Ficino's inner circles.

Some additional stuff:

There's an unpublished letter to Cavalcanti from Sebastiano Salvini (I haven't seen it, unfortunatley) (Salvini was Ficino's cousin who was orphaned young and basically raised by Ficino).

Naldo Neri also addressed poems to Cavalcanti. In Benedetto Colucci's Declamationes Cavalcanti is one of the speakers and considered a very good orator. He is mentioned in Giovanni Nedi's dialogue De moribus and Landindo praises Giovanni's qualities in his commentary on Dante's Divine Comedy (particularly sections in Paradiso).

For his career:

He initially held minor offices in the Republic, not uncommon. In 1484 (he would have been ~40) he was a member of the Uffiziale of the University of Pisa. In 1494 (~50y old) he was part of the delegation to Charles VIII when he was camped outside Florence. In 1495 he was one of the priori of the city (they're the senior governing body of Florence, elected for short stints, during which they live at the Signoria and are on call 24/7). In early 1495, before he was elected a member of the priori, he was sent with Luca Corsii to Ludovico Sforza to convey Florence's condolences on the death of Gian Galeazzo Sforza.

He was educated by Landino and Domenico Galletti, among others.

--

But what I try and glean for his personality basically comes from the hints we get from Ficino's letters and the one letter Cavalcanti wrote in response to him. Also what others have said or alluded to as regards Cavalcanti.

The two letters referenced are below the cut. They're from Vol. II of Ficino's letters- both undated, unfortunately.

I would place them in the 1470s because Ficino makes joking reference to Gio's letter in later correspondence in the 1480s and also in a few of his later works.

These are the letters a friend has termed the "is the Malice of Saturn in the room with us right now?" letters.

Marsilio Ficino to Giovanni Cavalcanti, his unique friend.

Giovanni, write to me some time about what you have been doing in those matters common to us both, or what you want to be done by me; that is, my good Giovanni, if you know what you want at this time. At present I do not really know what I want; it may be that I do not really want what I know and want that which I do not know.

However, I think that things are now settled for you under the benign influence of your Jupiter progressing into Pisces; but for me, under the malign influence of my Saturn retrogressing in Leo, they are far from settled.

Nevertheless, as we often observe, thanks should be given in all things to Him who, from His infinite goodness, converts all things to the good.

--------------

[For Gio's response, all emphasis are mine and I broke up the paragraphs a little bit to make it easier to read. All typos are also mine.]

Giovanni Cavalcanti to Marsilio Ficino, the Platonic Philosopher.

In my opinion you sometimes esteem certain things very highly, and, because you so esteem them, on that account you fear them. Although such things should be valued a very, very little, nevertheless, I think that by so great a man as you they should be valued even less.

So, my Marsilio, you will not complain to me of Saturn's malice any more. By Hercules, the stars can do us no harm; they cannot, I say because they do not wish to. Moreover, for heavenly beings, to wish is to be able. Again, und what law might they harm us, the sons of the highest Good? For they are led by those who draw their origin solely from that same highest Good. Aand those most fortunate ones impel the stars in their circuits entirely in accord with the principle of the Good itself.

If we see, and those with experience know, how greatly the second and earthly father cherishes his sons (which father may scarcely be called father when compared to the heavenly Father), then how greatly may we suppose the first and true Father loves us? Certainly, in marvelous measure.

So, we are never harmed by those who live together in our Father's most desired home. Henceforth, beware of transferring your blame to that supreme star which has caused you to be heaped up with almost infinite and very great gifts. Lest vainly I attempt to enumerate them one by one, consider: when yo uwere sent to be an ornament to the floral city [Florence], already through you filled with flowers, did not that star purpose to look down on you with the same aspect as he looked down on the divine Plato's arising, so that Athens might be made illustrious?

Reply to me, I beg. Whence that wonderful intelligence, by which you know what Saturn is, who completes his course in thirty years? You know what effects he causes on earth by his position in relation to this or that place; and you do not ignore them. Come, tell me, whence that robust and healthy body** by which you have made your way by disued and overgrown paths through the whole of Greece, even penetrating into Egypt, to bring to us thos emost wise men of old on your shoulders? Certainly a bold undertaking.

For this posterity will owe very much to you, so much as will be difficult to repay. Your initial concept has not decieved you. Certainly, you have borne away those whom no one dared touch, and shown them in Western regions where formerly they were only known by name; yet those names were greatly venerated. And you have removed from them all obscurity which used to surround them.

You have cleansed our eyes of all mists, in such a way that even their heart may be seen, except we be totally blind. Finally, through you, this age has looked deeply into those whom Italy had never seen. All these things were given to you by that same star [Saturn].

To this also I wish you to reply: whence that most capacious memory of so many things, which is so tenacious that, at any moment whatsoever, all things are present for it, whatever you have seen or heard? Not only does it hold these things, but it remembers by whom they were done and also the times and places.

Will you therefore accuse Saturn, he who purposed that you should rise above other men as far as he himself rises above other planets? Wherefore, believe me, a hymn of recantation is necessary which, if you are wise, you will sing without delay.

--

**Ficino was known to be short, a little hunched backed, and suffered from chronic illness. The robust and healthy body Gio is referring to is Ficino's mind.

-----

Ficino's reply is like "you told me to sing a hymn to Saturn, but you already did it for me!"

Some excerpts (emphasis & typos mine):

To be sure, if my heart be singing, then, of necessity, the hollows of my breast resound. It follows that while you, my heart, sing, I sing. Indeed, in your letter you seem to have sung a hymn of recantation for me to Saturn and the other stars; or rather, to God, the cause of their movements. Therefore your letter to your Marsilio shall me the hymn of recantation [...]

I praise God within myself especially on this account: that, because of a certain eternal gift of His, I have very little desire for mortal goods, since I am in truth too fearful of the surrounding evils, which you reprove in me from time to time. I accuse a certain melancholy disposition, a thing which seems to me to be very bitter unless, having been softened, it may in a measure be made sweet for us by frequent use of the lyre. [...]

Giovanni Cavalcanti for the character ask game?? I so want to hear your thoughts on him!

Oh he's hard, because we have so little on him. Basically, he shows up in legal documents and records from time to time and then we have Ficino's letters, but I can't locate any extant poetry, for example. And we know he was a poet. He had four daughters who survived him but I couldn't tell you for certain if he was married or if they were by a mistress. (I suspect he was married, because when Ficino passive aggressively mentions the birth of Gio's third daughter it's way more "you didn't tell me she was born, what gives?" and less "you're living in sin and your mistress had another child I see".)

But I'll do what I can!

First impression

I was of the same mindset that a lot of people are under which is that it was a one sided thing and Ficino just had it bad for this other man who wasn't feeling it to the same degree.

Otherwise, I didn't have much of a strong impression because he's so absent from the historic record - so far as I can see. I would love to get into the archives over in Florence and her environs to see what can be found on Ficino's Giovanni Cavalcanti. But from what I have found, there just isn't much on him that survived.

Impression now

Having been deep in the Ficino world, and looking at the broader context of the letter we do have, also how other people clearly viewed them (Bernardo Bembo, for example), I'm much more inclined to think there was deep mutual love and that Cavalcanti was as devoted to Ficino as Ficino was to him. They certainly spent a lot of time living together, or close enough, that they were writing letters to people on behalf of both of them. Ficino also wrote portions of his Platonic Theology at Cavalcanti's villa in Rignano.

We know he was a statesman and was one of the Florentines to go see Charles in the 1494 when the French king was sitting pretty outside the gates of Florence. (Ficino also might have been there? Also Savonarola? Piero Soderini certainly was. It would have been such a weird group of people.) He also jousted at Lorenzo's coming of age hoopla. A relative of his was in the cathedral during the Pazzi conspiracy and was one of the ones to help Lorenzo to safety. Giovanni was also a poet - though I haven't seen any of his poetry/not sure if any survived.

I get the sense that Giovanni was always the more grounded one to Ficino's flights of high emotion and spirit. Ficino was very high/low or sometimes a mix of both at once, and Giovanni always gives me the vibe that he was far more level and even keeled.

Overall, I think he was likely a clever, intelligent man (since Ficino thought so, and Ficino could be savage in his opinion when he wanted to be) who was quite devoted to Ficino but was more worldly and grounded. He was the one who took care of day to day affairs and dealt with interpersonal politics and made sure when Ficino was going off on someone the letters that were actually sent were the nice version and not the "I am ANNOYED" version. I think he also likely had a poetic aspect to him and certainly wrote enough poetry for Ficino to label him a poet before anything else. (E.g., poet oh and yes, also a statesman/politician)

I don't think Giovanni was really deep in the Florentine political scene. He held minor positions here and there, but didn't really get anything good until the 1490s (post Lorenzo's death, I might note). I think this is particularly to do with age - Florence preferred to send older men on diplomatic missions and Cavalcanti was in his fifties by the 1490s but also possibly to do with the fact that Cavalcanti came from a family that had its fair share of Medici critics. (Also atheists. They were an interestingly radical family for landed aristocracy.) Cavalcanti was also Ficino's closest friend, obviously, and considering the coolness between Ficino and Lorenzo that might have impacted Cavalcanti's career considering the ballot box was a rouse and everyone knew real appointments came from Lorenzo.

Favorite moment

I would have loved to have heard Cavalcanti and Ficino's hot takes on the delegation to Charles VIII in 1494. I bet they were fantastically derisive and I would love to have been a fly on the wall for that.

I also love that Cavalcanti was the one who vetted Ficino's letters when Ficino was worried he might be writing too harshly. All the moments where Ficino is like "read what I've attached and if you think it's alright, please go ahead and send it. If it's not, let me know and I'll tone it down a few notches."

Giovanni just like, "You've called Gigi a cunt in this one, Marsilio. You can't do that in a letter to Giuliano de' Medici. No matter that it would make Giuliano laugh."

Ficino, "I hear you, Vannino, but have you considered that he is a cunt? Have you taken that fact into account?'

Giovanni gently pushing the letter into Ficino's hands, "Fix it. You need to fix it."

Also, I love that Giovanni jousted at Lorenzo's coming of age party. I bet he was very dashing and I want to know how he did. I choose to believe that he secretly wore Ficino's favour somewhere in his armour. Hidden from view and all that.

Lorenzo sees it, "I am 0% shocked."

Giovanni, "Look. It brought me good luck ok?"

Lorenzo, "I'm not judging. I'm just finding this all immensely entertaining. Prudish little Marsilio and his dashing knight."

Giovanni, "Please leave before I follow in my ancestor's footsteps and declare myself anti-Medici."

Lorenzo, "You also going to be an ashiest like your ancestor did? The one Dante chucked in hell in his Inferno. Your Marsilio might have a hard time with that one."

Giovanni, "Get out, Lorenzo."

Idea for a story

I would love the Pazzi conspiracy from Giovanni's perspective. It's mostly him having 500 panic attacks about Marsilio's life choices. I also want to know who the Cavalcanti was that protected Lorenzo and how he is related to Giovanni. I presume brother or cousin.

I'm fiddling away on something that takes place in this time period, but so far Ficino's a POV as is Lorenzo and a woman named Fiorina who wants to resurrect her sister-in-law for Reasons of Love/Grief. Giovanni has yet to surface as one. We will see if he does.

I would also be curious to have the Savonarola Time from Giovanni's perspective. He came from a bit of a radical-minded family that was prone to some potentially heretical/suspicious views. I have this feeling, not based on anything other than one line in a letter he sent to Marsilio, that he was just as Into the pagan stuff as Ficino was. If not more so.** We know Savonarola was suspicious of Ficino and questioned his loyalty to the church and I can see him extending that to others in Ficino's personal circle. Also, Savonarola was very concerned about sodomy in Florence and Ficino's circle did have a certain reputation...

(It's the "By Hercules" line in his letter to Ficino telling him that he's certain Saturn isn't out to get Marsilio and he can calm down and maybe reposition the planet's role and symbolism in his head. Ficino doesn't use the pagan gods and figures in that manner. He believes in them, in his own way, but he doesn't call on them like that. And this wasn't quite the time when that was a norm for letter writing. Like 19th century By Jove and what have you. I know it's weak reasoning but eh.)

Unpopular opinion

Only unpopular with those fools who haven't obsessively deep dived on Ficino and Cavalcanti and don't Understand them, clearly, but obviously it was not one sided! There are a few historians who are like "clearly unrequited love" and I'm like "not sure what you're looking at but it seems pretty requited to me."

I've nattered on before about the nature of the letter collection of Ficino's - but it's highly curated and meant for philosophical edification. It's not personal, every day correspondence. It's all the stuff he wrote in Latin as formal Intellectual Correspondence. Not the Tuscan personal stuff (e.g., letters to his parents consoling them on the death of one of his brothers; basically every letter ever sent to his family and friends that wasn't Here Are My Thoughts on Plato, the Soul, and Music). We also only have one side of the correspondence. The only letter we have from Gio to Marsilio is that wonderful one wherein Giovanni tells Marsilio that Saturn isn't out to get him then tells him to write a hymn to Saturn to beg forgiveness for placing blame of his mental health on the planet.

They're weird, your honour, and I love them.

But we know that everyone viewed them as connected at the hip (love that Bernardo Bembo essentially wrote a letter to Ficino where he clearly was like: so you and Giovanni eh?? and Ficino replied: HOW DID YOU KNOW???). Very much they were considered a bit of a unit, which speaks volumes. We know they lived together frequently for long durations. Wrote joint letters like a married couple. Giovanni was one of the executors Ficino appointed for his will. Clearly turned to one another for advice on handling difficult situations. Ficino dedicated so many books to Giovanni. Giovanni clearly knew how to handle Ficino in his mad moments and how to help him through them which speaks to great, long-term intimacy. Giovanni is the one Marsilio trusts enough to write his rather scathing views of Medici rule to, knowing the letters won't fall into the wrong hands. etc.

Whatever their relationship was between the two of them (physical? purely emotional and intellectual? some variation between? something else entirely?), it was certainly deep and I think shared equally on both sides.

Favorite relationship

Ficino, obvs.

I would be curious to know more about his friendships with Bernardo Bembo and Angelo Poliziano - because he regularly commends himself to them whenever Ficino is writing to them. So I wish we had some insight into those.

I also wish we had insight into his familial relationships. He was the second of four sons - not sure if he had sisters. He was a father to four daughters. But what those relationships looked like, we have no clue.

Favorite headcanon

Hahahah I mean, everything I have written is idle speculation. I really like head-cannoning that he was a proper poet and wrote long epic poetry about Florence's history. He holes up at his family estate, or if there's too many people there, rides out to Ficino's farm in Celle where he can isolate and Compose His Masterpiece. Ficino rolls up like, "ah I see this is why you haven't replied to my letters. You weren't even at home."

I also headcannon that he would compose songs for Ficino to sing - since we know Ficino was a musician with an apparently very pleasant voice - and Ficino would oblige him, even if they weren't in the style of the Orphic hymns that he preferred.

Oh also, 100% Cavalcanti would fight anyone who made fun of Ficino's slight stutter. Like, he would throw down in a heartbeat.

Angelo Poliziano: Piero I wouldn't make fun of Marsilio's stutter were I you.

Random Piero: Why not?

Angelo: Because Giovanni will hear you and then you'll die and that would be unfortunate.

Piero: Cavalcanti's not even in Florence.

Lorenzo: That has never stopped him before.

Piero: Surely you would prevent him, I mean Marsilio's not even in your favour since you think he knew about the Pazzi plot.

Lorenzo: hmmmmm bold of you to make so many assumptions. Also I don't think Marsilio knew, I am dead certain he knew. But my grandfather's ghost would gut me in the middle of the night if I did anything to his favourite protégée.

Giovanni shows up: Alright, which mother fucker is making fun of Ficino today?

Piero: How did you do that?? You were in another city??

Angelo: Don't say I didn't warn you.

-----

Thank you!! I love these two and talking about them <3 <3 <3

[littlweirdostuffwritesworld]

The Golden Sun

Prologo: This is before re how our black reader met Lorenzo de Medici (her future zaddy) thanks to the man's ex nemesis and her cousin

Florence was celebrating Francesco de 'Pazzi was getting married, it was a sigh of relief for everyone from plebeians, knights, nobles and to the church. It was an event that no one expected, everyone knew that Guglielmo de 'Pazzi was the sentimental one, not Francesco.

But everything changed when he met Andrea Sabini's eyes, they met at a ball in Venice for the union of two nobles.

Right there Andrea distracted and euphoric did not look in front and collided with the man.

"My apologies Messer. I wasn't looking where I was going" he smiled

"No problem, but she's careful" she said with her typical look, and the woman walked down her street, but she turned around and asked

"Your name, Messer" he turned

"And why would he want to know?" he asked sceptically

"Please don't be offended, I shouldn't be so curious, I wish you a good evening" she said and went away, leaving Francesco to look down the corridor, realizing that her brother was calling him she went away.

He enjoyed the rest of the evening, talked with possible collaborators and clients and danced with many women, also had the good fortune to meet Ludovico Sabini, strangely obviously liked him with Lorenzo de 'Medici.

"You two seem like talented young men, if you use your mind you will be more than your fathers and your names will be remembered in the stars" he laughed proudly, a woman interrupted him.

"Andrea you feel better" he asked, Francesco recognized her.

"Yes father, I'm sorry I made you worry," she said sadly.

"Excuse me for the interruption," she said and went off to join other ladies, and Francesco didn't take his eyes off her.

"That's my daughter Andrea Sabini, the diamente of the family" Ludovico was proudly beating his cane on the ground.

"Andrea is a rather manly name" Lorenzo added

"When she was born she took my finger and I almost rupper it, she is worthy of that name, even if she looks like a young lady I taught her like my sons and she is always on my right, she is the only one in the family to convince to the royal family of Naples to invest and buy our silk "explained after a chat or two the old man left.

"Francesco it seems that you are infatuated with Andrea Sabini" Lorenzo teased him.

"Shut up Medici" the dances opened and Pazzi was really waiting to meet Andrea again, and finally he succeeded.

"Oh we meet again Messer" the woman said she took her hand and they danced.

"I have to offer you my sincere apologies," he apologized

"For what reason?" she was confused

"For answering you abruptly earlier"

"Don't worry, I just wanted to know who the bewitching-faced Messer was," he smiled

"I wonder if you say lp just to make me feel better or at all?" the dance was about to end

"I told you I'm not offended," they bowed and their eyes met

"And I only express myself this way to people who have caught my eye," she whispered

"I caught an eye on you '"

"I'm a lady, I can't answer this question in public, but come and know the question"

From that moment the two were under secret courtship, for the Sabines it could have been fine but for Jacopo Pazzi it would have been the loss of his best pawn. The relationship continued for months until the man's uncle was becoming suspicious and sent a spy to the French court where Francis was invited. Thanks to the letter from Lorenzo they discovered that their uncle and the whole of Florence had discovered him.

"You don't have to come with me, you can save your reputation" he tried to persuade her beloved but there was nothing to be done.

"My love, I will not leave you anywhere, if you are guilty of this foolishness I am too" she stroked his face and gave him a tender kiss on the cheek.

The carriage arrived in front of Villa Pazzi, they looked at each other for a moment and went out hand in hand, Lorenzo had already told them that there would be many Florentine noble families waiting. And so it was Jacopo de Pazzi really wanted to humiliate him, and his uncle was there and he was smiling.

"Francesco, would you like to introduce us to your beloved?" the man said

"I'm Andrea Sabini of the Sabini family, Messer Pazzi" she introduced herself making the nobles jump

"Do you know what crime he committed?"

"Love your nephew?" she said brazenly.

"Adultery and …..

"I have to stop you there Messer Pazzi but the two of us are under courting, my family knows it and I Pazzi know it" she replied, the nobles were really shocked by her "cheekiness".

"Messer Pazzi did not know about your scandalous ……." Niccolò Ardighelli tried to say

"But my brother knew it and since we have half the power of this family, the de 'Pazzi knew it," Francesco said.

"He really wants to be with a woman like her," a doonna whispered

and finally they could court each other in the sun.

" What are you saying?" Andrea asked while eating strawberries under the Tuscan sun.

"I'm thinking how you came into my life," he said, stroking her face

"Thanks to you I became a better man, I would have become like my uncle Jacopo"

"I didn't do any of that," she blushed

"I'd like to ask you something," she tugged at a ruby ring

" Francis…."

"Andrea, will you marry me?"

"Sure yes, yes" their lips joined

"Francesco I love you" she smiled

" I love you too"

And so they went back there hand in hand on their wedding day not knowing they would bring two people together.

[jeannedarcenthusiast]

Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539):

“But it is above all as a patron of art and letters that Isabella d'Este will be remembered. In this respect she deserves a place with the most enlightened princes of the Renaissance, with Lorenzo de’ Medici and Ludovico Sforza. A true child of her age, Isabella combined a passionate love of beauty and the most profound reverence for antiquity with the finest critical taste. (…) She wrote endless letters, and gave the artists in her employment the most elaborate and minute instructions. (…) If Isabella was a fastidious and at times a severe critic, she was also a generous and kindly patron, prompt to recognise true merit and stimulate creative effort, and ever ready to befriend struggling artists. And poets and painters alike gave her freely of their best.”

Isabella d'Este, marchioness of Mantua, 1474-1539 : a study of the renaissance by Julia Cartwright Ady.

[joseandrestabarnia]

La despedida de Angélica y Medoro a los pastores. Orazio Fidani (Florencia 1606 - 1656) 1634 Pintura al óleo sobre lienzo 230x340 cm Inventario 1890 n. 3559

El episodio ilustrado, extraído del Orlando furioso de Ludovico Ariosto, no suele traducirse a la pintura y, por tanto, el pintado por Orazio Fidani constituye uno de los ejemplos más interesantes. En el canto XIX Ariosto habla del apuesto soldado sarraceno Medoro, herido en la batalla donde murieron el rey Dardinello y su amigo Cloridano, hospitalizado con una familia de pastores y aquí cuidado por la bella Angélica de la que se enamora. La escena ilustra el momento en el que Medoro, ya recuperado, se dispone a salir de la casa de sus invitados junto a su amada. Angélica, sentada a la derecha, entrega a su invitada una pulsera: ese "círculo dorado, adornado/ con ricas gemas" que Orlando le había regalado en señal de su amor. Cuando el conde, al llegar a casa del pastor, reconozca el collar, tendrá pruebas del amor entre los dos jóvenes, y a partir de ese momento comenzará su locura.

La ambientación al aire libre confiere a la escena ese tono rústico y elegante muy querido por los pintores florentinos de la década de 1630, impresionados por las novedades romanas que llegaban a Florencia tanto por la estancia de artistas venidos de Roma como por las obras llegadas a través de los Medici. y noble coleccionismo. Por otra parte, es típico de la tradición florentina, y de este autor en particular, el gusto por las sofisticadas soluciones formales en las coreografías, en las poses teatrales de los personajes, tal como se imaginan en un escenario teatral, y en los elegantes trajes, elegidos en cuidadosamente estudiados diseños. gamas de colores.

Información de la web de la Gallerie degli Uffizi, imagen de mi autoría.