Exotic animals in the art and culture of the Medici court in Florence by Angelica Groom.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Groom, Angelica, author.

Series:

Rulers & Elites 16.

Rulers & elites : comparative studies in governance, 2211-4610 ; volume 16

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wild animal collecting--Italy--Florence--History.

Wild animal collecting.

Animals and civilization--Italy--Florence.

Animals and civilization.

Animals--Symbolic aspects--History--Italy--Florence.

Animals.

Medici, House of.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (360 pages) : illustrations (some color).

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2018]

Summary:

The book examines the roles that rare and exotic animals played in the cultural self-fashioning and the political imaging of the Medici court during the family's reign, first as Dukes of Florence (1532-1569) and subsequently as Grand Dukes of Tuscany (1569-1737). The book opens with an examination of global practices in zoological collecting and cultural uses of animals. The Medici's activities as collectors of exotic species, the menageries they established and their deployment of animals in the ceremonial life of the court and in their art are examined in relation to this wider global perspective. The book seeks to nuance the myth promoted by the Medici themselves that theirs was the most successful princely serraglio in early modern Europe.

Contents:

Front Matter

Copyright

Contents

Introduction and Global Perspective of Animal Collecting and Menageries

Cultural Uses of Animals at the Medici Court

Zoological Collecting: Practices of Exchange and Processes of Procurement

Menageries and Aviaries in Medicean Florence

The Sport of the Chase: "Exotic Hunts"

Spectacles of Slaughter and Courtly Pageants: Exotic Beasts as Symbols of Power and Colonial Ambitions

Exotic Animals in the Art of the Medici Court

Animal Imagery in the Service of Political Imaging

Medici Patronage and Early Modern Naturalism: Tensions between Scientific and Decorative Naturalism

The Ambrogiana Series of Animal Paintings

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

90-04-37113-3

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004371132 DOI