Herculean Ferrara
Herculean Ferrara
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USDErcole d'Este (1471–1505) is perhaps best known as the father of Isabella d'Este, marchioness of Mantua, but his court in Ferrara was one of the most glittering in Renaissance Italy. He was an extremely prolific builder and laid out plans which doubled the size of the city. He was also the leader in the revival of classical theatre, an enthusiastic patron of musicians, and a creator of magnificent court spectacles. Very little survives to testify to Ercole's achievements, largely on account of a devastating earthquake in 1570, but considerable archival evidence has been used to re-establish the duke's achievements and the extent to which he was personally involved in his patronage. This evidence runs contrary to many currently held assumptions, and although Herculean Ferrara deals with one court and one ruler it also challenges some of the basic notions about the relationship between artist and patron during the Renaissance.
- An illustrated reappraisal of the artistic aims and achievements of Ercole d'Este
- Runs counter to many standard ideas about Ercole and his role in the remodelling of Ferrara
- Based on extensive archival material, used to forward new arguments about Ercole and about the nature of patronage in the Renaissance
Reviews & endorsements
"A thorough gazetteer of churches and of urban and country palaces, as well as an extensive critical apparatus including annotated transcriptions of primary documents, make this beautifully produced study a valuable reference tool for those investigating the dynamics and goals of cultural patronage in the Italian Renaissance." K.V. Gouwens, Choice
"Tuohy's voluminous and well-illustrated book is the first research specifically devoted to an assessment of Ercole d'Estw's direct involvement in the archtectural reorganization of late fifteenth-century Ferrara, an impressive series of projects whose final outcome brought into being what Jacob Burckhardt described as the first really modern city in Europe." Stefano Ugo Baldassari, Sixteenth Century Journal
"Tuohy has constructed a uniquely rich and authentic picture of one Italian court city." David Friedman, American Historical Review
"...solidly based on new and thorough archival scholarship...." Werner Gundersheimer, Speculum
Product details
August 2002Paperback
9780521522632
568 pages
234 × 194 × 30 mm
1kg
60 b/w illus.
Available
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Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of illustrations
- Preface
- 1. The d'Este of Ferrara
- 2. The Estense inheritance
- 3. The ducal palace
- 4. The ducal capital
- 5. Court errant: the itinerant court
- 6. Princely piety
- 7. The decoration and furnishing of palaces
- 8. The ephemera of magnificence
- 9. As the duke commands
- Gazetteer
- Plans and genealogical table
- Abbreviations and the currency of Ferrara
- Sources
- Inventory of registers of the camera ducale
- Bibliography
- Appendices.
