Florentine patricians and their networks : structures behind the cultural success and the political representation of the Medici Court (1600-1660) / by Elisa Goudriaan.

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2018]

xviii, 479 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

In 'Florentine Patricians and Their Networks', Elisa Goudriaan presents the first comprehensive overview of the cultural world and diplomatic strategies of the Florentine patricians in the seventeenth century and of the ways in which they contributed as a group to the court culture of the Medici. The author focusses on the patricians' musical, theatrical, literary, and artistic pursuits, and uses these to show how politics, social life, and cultural activities tended to merge in early modern society. Quotations from many archival sources, mainly correspondence, make this book a lively reading-experience and offer a new perspective on seventeenth-century Florentine society, by revealing the mechanisms behind elite patronage networks, cultural input, recruiting processes, and brokerage activities.

English

December 15, 2017

Includes bibliographical references and index.