Cosimo I de' Medici and his Self-Representation in Florentine Art and Culture

In this study, first published in 2006, van Veen reassesses how Cosimo de' Medici represented himself in images.

Henk Th. van Veen (Author)

9780521837224, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 August 2006

280 pages
25.4 x 17.8 x 1.7 cm, 0.71 kg

Review of the hardback: 'Over eleven chapters the reader follows an admirably detailed investigation into the duke's views on projects … this book does much to fill in the many gaps in our knowledge.' The Burlington Magazine

In this study, first published in 2006, Henk Th. van Veen reassesses how Cosimo de' Medici represented himself in images during the course of his rule. Traditionally, Cosimo is seen to be posing as a republican prince in the images made of him during the early years of his reign; as his power grew, he represented himself as a proud dynastic and territorial ruler. By contrast, van Veen argues that Cosimo represented himself as a lofty ruler in the initial phase of his regime, but that from 1559 onwards he posed as a citizen-prince. Analyzing all of Cosimo's major commissions, both art and architecture, to support his argument, van Veen also examines historiographical and literary evidence, as well as the civic traditions, rites, and customs that Cosimo promoted in sixteenth-century Florence.

1. Dynasty and destiny
2. Shaping the Florentinist perspective
3. The Sala Grande in the Palazzo della Signoria
4. The Uffizi and the Pitti
5. The Apparato for the entry of Joanna of Austria
6. The Neptune Fountain and other major secular commissions
7. Commissions in churches
8. The Grand Ducal commissions (1569–74)
9. In praise of the city and its elite
10. The Florentinist Perspective
11. Cosimo the citizen prince.

Subject Areas: The arts: general issues [AB]