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"Un altro Lorenzo". Il cardinale Ippolito de'Medici tra Firenze e Roma (1510-1535)

This is a book of 117.000 words, which discusses the life, artistic patronage and collecting activities of a member of the Medici family in the sixteenth century and encompasses a number of linked historical investigations into the different manifestations of the virtues of splendour and magnificence, addressing, in particular, the theoretical issue of the dialectic relationship between self-representation and reception. Archival research was conducted between 2001 and 2005 in various Italian archives. A draft was written at Villa I Tatti in 2004-2005 and further research was undertaken intensively in 2006-2008 in Florence, Siena and at the CASVA, Washington.

This book reconstructs the life and patronage of a Medici family member. The first (mainly biographical) part draws on unpublished reports on his dealings written by Italian diplomats in Rome and Florence. Their letters provide us with information on the reception of the cardinal’s carefully-crafted public image. The second part comprises five essays on the cardinal’s self-representation through an analysis of his clothing and portraits, his courtly retinue and artistic and literary contexts. An epilogue explores the manipulation of his memory in later Medicean narratives. This book stands at the intersection of art history, history, material culture, and patronage studies.