New Apelleses, and New Apollos : poet-artists around the court of Florence (1537-1587)

This book breaks new ground by illuminating the key role of verse-writing as a cultural strategy on the part of Italian Renaissance artists. It does so by undertaking a wide-ranging study of poems by painters, sculptors, architects, and goldsmiths who were active in Florence under Cosimo I and Francesco I de’ Medici – a milieu in which many practitioners of the visual arts appropriated the literary medium to address issues related to their primary professions. New Apelleses, and New Apollos intervenes in the burgeoning scholarly discourse on the intellectual life of artists in early modern Italy, revealing how poetry often provides fresh insights into art-theoretical debates, patronage questions, workshop cultures, issues of professional identity, and networks of personal relations.

This book breaks new ground by illuminating the key role of verse-writing as a cultural strategy on the part of Italian Renaissance artists. It does so by undertaking a wide-ranging study of poems by painters, sculptors, architects, and goldsmiths who were active in Florence under Cosimo I and Francesco I de' Medici – a milieu in which many practitioners of the visual arts appropriated the literary medium to address issues related to their primary professions.

New Apelleses, and New Apollos intervenes in the burgeoning scholarly discourse on the intellectual life of artists in early modern Italy, revealing how poetry often provides fresh insights into art-theoretical debates, patronage questions, workshop cultures, issues of professional identity, and networks of personal relations.

Der Band beleuchtet erstmals die zentrale Rolle des Verseschreibens als kulturelle Strategie von italienischen Renaissancekünstlern. Die Autorin unterzieht Gedichte von Malern, Bildhauern, Architekten und Goldschmieden, die in Florenz unter Cosimo I. und Francesco I. de' Medici tätig waren, einer umfassenden Analyse. Am Hof der Medici waren viele Künstler auch literarisch aktiv und eigneten sich das Medium der Dichtkunst an, um darin Themen zu behandeln, die mit dem Kunstschaffen zu tun hatten. Die Studie leistet einen wichtigen Beitrag zum wissenschaftlichen Diskurs über den frühneuzeitlichen doctus artifex, der in einer Vielzahl von intellektuellen Aktivitäten bewandert war. Gleichzeitig stellt sie die traditionelle Marginalisierung der Poesie gegenüber der Prosa-Schriften der Künstler infrage This book illuminates for the first time the pivotal role of verse-writing as a cultural strategy on the part of Italian Renaissance artists. It does so by undertaking a wide-ranging analysis of poems by painters, sculptors, architects, and goldsmiths who were active in Florence under Cosimo I and Francesco I de' Medici - a milieu in which many artists were also literary practitioners and even appropriated the poetic medium to address issues primarily related to art-making. 0The study thus intervenes in the burgeoning scholarly discourse on the early modern doctus artifex - the figure well versed in a variety of intellectual activities - while also challenging the traditional marginalization of poetry in comparison with artists prose writings Contents Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction: The Artist as a Poet Looking at Michelangelo A Literato’s Recognition Between Praise and Vituperation The Problem of Patronage Appendix Bibliography Plates Credits Index of Names