A mattress maker's daughter : the Renaissance romance of Don Giovanni de' Medici and Livia Vernazza / Brendan Dooley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dooley, Brendan Maurice, 1953-

Series:

I Tatti studies in Italian Renaissance history.

Villa I Tatti.

I Tatti Studies in Italian Renaissance History ; 12

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Medici, Giovanni de', 1567-1621--Relations with women.

Medici, Giovanni de'.

Vernazza, Livia, 1590?-1655.

Vernazza, Livia.

Princes--Italy--Biography.

Princes.

Soldiers--Italy--Biography.

Soldiers.

Italy--Social life and customs--16th century.

Italy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (480 p.)

Edition:

19 halftones

Other Title:

Renaissance romance of Don Giovanni de' Medici and Livia Vernazza

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England : Harvard University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A Mattress Maker's Daughter richly illuminates the narrative of two people whose mutual affection shaped their own lives and in some ways their times. According to the Renaissance legend told and retold across the centuries, a woman of questionable reputation bamboozles a middle-aged warrior-prince into marrying her, and the family takes revenge. He is Don Giovanni de' Medici, son of the Florentine grand duke; she is Livia Vernazza, daughter of a Genoese artisan. They live in luxury for a while, far from Florence, and have a child. Then, Giovanni dies, the family pounces upon the inheritance, and Livia is forced to return from riches to rags. Documents, including long-lost love letters, reveal another story behind the legend, suppressed by the family and forgotten. Brendan Dooley investigates this largely untold story among the various settings where episodes occurred, including Florence, Genoa, and Venice. In the course of explaining their improbable liaison and its consequences, A Mattress Maker's Daughter explores early modern emotions, material culture, heredity, absolutism, and religious tensions at the crux of one of the great transformations in European culture, society, and statecraft. Giovanni and Livia exemplify changing concepts of love and romance, new standards of public and private conduct, and emerging attitudes toward property and legitimacy just as the age of Renaissance humanism gave way to the culture of Counter-Reformation and early modern Europe.

Contents:

Front matter

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

PREFACE

PROLOGUE

1. THE FAMILY BUSINESS

2. THE MATTRESS MAKER'S DAUGHTER

3. THE HEART OF COMBAT

4. WRITING THE PASSIONS

5. A PLACE FOR THINGS

6. MIND OVER MATTER

7. DURABLE GOODS

8. TIME AND MEMORY

POSTSCRIPT

NOTES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INDEX

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780674369108

0674369106

9780674369092

0674369092

OCLC:

871257828