Monday, November 1, 2010

A little bit about my research…Part 1

My PhD focuses on the patronage of a family who have been relatively under-studied despite their central role in the life on the Medicean republic, the Vespucci (focus on XV-XVI centuries). Although heraldic investigations on the family tree, studies on its prominent members (Amerigo) and alliances with important families (Medici) have been carried out, the Vespucci role as art patrons and their influence in Florentine artistic matters have never been explored. This is what my research aims at doing.

The primary goal of the project is to ‘reconstruct’ the Vespucci collection, gain a better understanding of the works of art that the family owned and analyse the collection’s display within the family palace in Florence. It is known that artists such as Botticelli, Piero di Cosimo and Ghirlandaio worked for the Vespucci, who else? Did the collection benefit from pieces received as gifts due to family alliances or weddings? Was the collection functional to show/prove the “social identity” of the Vespucci and confirm the family wealth and power?

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