The Intellectual World of Sixteenth-Century Florence : Humanists and Culture in the Age of Cosimo I

By the sixteenth century, Florence was famous across Europe for its achievements in the arts, letters, and humanist learning. Its intellectual life flourished anew at midcentury with Duke Cosimo and the Accademia Fiorentina. In this study, Ann Moyer provides an overview of Florentine intellectual life and community in the late Renaissance. She shows how studies of language helped Florentines develop their own story as a people distinct from ancient Greece or Rome, trace the rise of the city's medieval government, and explore how the city evolved into a hospitable environment for letters and the arts. Studies of Florentine art gave rise to art history, while those devoted to Florentine traditions and customs inspired broader questions about how to think about cultural change. Demonstrating how the intellectual activity around language, history, and art related and supported each other, Moyer's book documents the origins of the modern narrative of the Renaissance itself.--Abstract Cover 1 Half-title page 3 Title page 5 Copyright page 6 Contents 7 List of Illustrations 9 Preface 11 1 Florence and Cosimo 17 The City 20 The Citizens 26 2 Who Were the Florentines? Etruscan Roots 45 Received Traditions 46 Gelli and Giambullari on Florentine Origins 58 Supporters and Detractors 71 3 Florentine Histories 87 Past Witnesses 88 Diaries and Private Records 100 Histories of Recent Times 104 Medieval Histories 118 History, Politics, Customs 135 4 Language and Its Study 139 From Dante to Bembo and Beyond: The Century’s First Decades 142 The Florentine Language and Its Study: The Aramei 152 Modern Language Practice 169 5 Philological Approaches 191 Girolamo Mei on Verse and Prose 194 Benedetto Varchi on Language 201 Vincenzio Borghini 220 6 Writing about the Arts 250 Vasari and the Lives, 1550 255 The Accademia del Disegno 268 Vasari’s Lives, Second or Giuntina Edition, 1568 277 7 Florentine Customs and Practices 293 The Wedding of Francesco and Giovanna 296 The Dispute: The Early History of Florence 303 The Discorsi: City and Diocese 322 Urban Culture: Money and Elites 339 8 Conclusions 358 Transitions 359 Florentine Studies 362 Works Consulted 369 Index 394 "The city of Florence enjoyed a lively intellectual and artistic community in the middle and later decades of the sixteenth century. The city's literary academy, the Accademia Fiorentina, sponsored weekly public lectures on Petrarch and Dante as well as a series of lectures for members"-- Provided by publisher This Study Provides An Overview Of Florentine Intellectual Life And Community In The Late Renaissance. It Shows How Studies Of Language Helped Florentines To Develop Their Own Story As A People Distinct From Ancient Greece Or Rome.