Medici women as cultural mediators, 1533-1743: le donne di casa Medici e il loro ruolo di mediatrici culturali fra le corti d'Europa

Abstract

The vertiginous social ascent of the Florentine Medici dynasty was assisted and secured through prestigious marriage alliances. In the sixteenth century, when this family of bankers had only just managed to turn the Republic of Florence into a principate, foreign brides from noble families were not only potential political allies, but also important status symbols. Similarly, the conclusion of marriage matches between Medici women and rulers of European states reflected the new international standing of the dynasty. The numerous princesses who crossed the borders in this "elite traffic in women" imported the cultural traditions of their birthplace and amalgamated them

Contents

Medici women as "artful allies" / Christina Strunck -- "La Florentina" or "La bonne Françoise" : some sixteenth-century commentators on Catherine de'Medici and her patronage / Sheila ffolliott -- Conspicuous absences, transnational relationships in Catherine de'Medici's portrait collection / Henri Zerner -- Magnificentissimum spectaculum Caterina de'Medici e le feste parigine del 1573 / Luisa Capodieci -- From Caterina de'Medici to Maria Magdalena of Austria : the politics of danced spectacle / Iain Fenlon -- Expressing a habsburg sensibility in the Medici court : the Grand Duchess Giovanna d'Austria's patronage and public image in Florence / Lisa Kaborycha -- Christine of Lorraine and cultural exchanges in the countryside : international customs in local settings / Suzanna B. Butters -- How Chrestienne became Cristina : political and cultural encounters between Tuscany and Lorraine / Christina Strunck -- Maria de'Medici : la costruzione di una regina / Maria Fubini Leuzzi -- Liberalità calcolate : politiche del dono tra corte di Francia e corti italiane al tempo di Maria de'Medici / Jean-François Dubost -- Maria Maddalena d'Austria e il culto delle reliquie alla corte dei Medici : scambi di modelli dinastici ed ecclesiastici / Ilaria Hoppe -- Maria Maddalena d'Austria's pilgrimage to Loreto : visuality, liminality and exchange / Alice E. Sanger -- Iconografie politiche nella stanza della Stufa a palazzo Pitti Maria Maddalena d'Austria e la circolazione di modelli internazionali / Elisa Acanfora -- "Ritratti fatti per mano del Bronzino, pittore di-- singulare eccellenza et fame" : Medici women and court portraits by Cristofano Allori as gifts / Lisa Goldenberg Stoppato -- Anna Maria Luisa de'Medici e la corte di Düsseldorf / Ulrike Ilg.