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Abbess P iera de' M edici and her kin: gender, gifts, and patronage in R enaissance F lorence
Author(s) -
Strocchia Sharon T.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
renaissance studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.117
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1477-4658
pISSN - 0269-1213
DOI - 10.1111/rest.12043
Subject(s) - cult , wife , agency (philosophy) , expansive , politics , poetry , advertising , sociology , art , literature , political science , law , social science , business , compressive strength , materials science , composite material
This essay advances our understanding of early M edici patronage by focusing on the intriguing figure of P iera de' M edici ( c. 1400–1482), who matured into one of the most powerful abbesses in R enaissance F lorence. As a religious woman, P iera used her ties to the city's ruling family to benefit her V allombrosan community of S . V erdiana; in turn, it was through her agency that the M edici established long‐term claims on the convent, its consecrated virgins and its sacred cult. This case study shows how P iera combined rhetorical skills, political acumen and gift exchange to build a relationship with G iovanni de' M edici (1421–1463), whose patronage activities are less well known than those of other family members. It also invites a reconsideration of the role F lorentine women played in producing visual culture by comparing G iovanni's donations to gifts made by his wife, G inevra A lessandri. This perspective is especially valuable given that scholars have commented on the scarcity of female artistic patrons in fifteenth‐century F lorence compared to other areas of I taly. By considering different classes of objects and models of exchange, this essay contends that F lorentine women played a more expansive role in cultural production than previously recognized.