Cosimo "il Vecchio" de' Medici, 1389-1464 Essays in Commemoration of the 600th Anniversary of Cosimo de' Medici's Birth: Including papers delivered at the Society for Renaissance Studies' Sexcentenary Symposium at the Warburg Institute, London, 19 May 198

by Ames-Lewis, Francis; Gombrich, E. H.

• ISBN13: 9780198173946
• ISBN10: 0198173946
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1992-06-04
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

No wide-ranging consideration of the life and career of Cosimo 'il Vecchio' de' Medici has been published since 1938. This book grows out of a scholarly symposium organized by the Society for Renaissance Studies for the sexcentenary of Cosimo de' Medici's birth. The symposium, held in 1989, focused on the character, political interests and art-patronage of arguably the greatest statesman of early Renaissance Italy. With an introduction by Sir Ernst Gombrich, the essays discuss various facets of Cosimo's personality, political and cultural activities, his wit, his relations with the Popes of his time, his literary interests, his patronage of church building and fine arts, and finally the imagery of his tomb.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors
List of Plates
Introduction	p. 1
Cosimo optimus civis	p. 5
Cosimo and the Popes	p. 21
Cosimo de' Medici and Arezzo	p. 33
The Buonomini di San Martino: Charity for 'the glory of God, the honour of the city, and the commemoration of myself'	p. 49
Cosimo de' Medici as a Patron of Humanistic Literature	p. 69
Cosimo de' Medici's Wit and Wisdom	p. 95
Cosimo and his Books	p. 115
Cosimo de' Medici and San Lorenzo	p. 157
Cosimo de' Medici and the Franciscan Observants at Bosco ai Frati	p. 181
Fraternal Piety and Family Power: The Artistic Patronage of Cosimo and Lorenzo de' Medici	p. 195
Cosimo de' Medici and the Chapel of his Palace	p. 221
Dante and Lumen Christi: A Proposal for the Meaning of the Tomb of Cosimo de' Medici	p. 245
Select Bibliography	p. 302
Index	p. 305
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