A lecture by Alessio Assonitis
Thousands of letters written from and about Cosimo I de’ Medici paint vivid and revelatory portraits of the first Grand Duke of Tuscany. Details about his personality and his relationship with family members are constantly emerging. These letters also record his physical maladies and psychological distress; his cynicism and his compassion. They speak of his aesthetic tenets, intellectual curiosity and culinary taste. Letters address his obsession with his enemies, his conflicting relationships with foreign regents, and his dynastic ambitions. Most importantly, they shed light on the intricate mechanism of court culture. Despite the myriad archival records, an impressive number of academic and non-academic literature (not to speak of historical fiction) continues to perpetuate warped, biased, erroneous, and even invented accounts about Cosimo. This lecture will address some of these “mythologies” but also how Cosimo purposely doctored aspects of his life in order to construct an ideal public persona.
Alessio Assonitis is the Director of the Medici Archive Project in Florence.
If you are in Florence and would like to attend the lecture in person at the British Institute Library, please register here or send an email to bif@britishinstitute.it
The registration fee is 15 Euro per person.
To join this lecture online, simply click on this link to register and receive the Zoom meeting invitation: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/AL0rTIGMRT2p_xfYdAXVqw . The virtual doors will open at 18:00 Italian time on Wednesday 26th February.
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The lecture is sponsored by Bernadette Delaney