The Medici wedding of 1589 : Florentine festival as Theatrum Mundi

The marriage in 1589 of Grand Duke Ferdinando de' Medici and the French princess Christine of Lorraine was a landmark event in Renaissance art and architecture, theater, music, and political ceremonial. Celebrated by a month of elaborate pageantry that required a full year of preparations, the wedding mobilized the combined artistic, intellectual, and administrative forces of Tuscany at the zenith of its wealth, power, and cultural prestige. This book combines art and social history to present the first comprehensive reconstruction of the Medici wedding and in the process provides a fascinating narrative of Florentine culture during the Renaissance. James Saslow draws on a rich trove of visual and archival sources to describe the jousts, plays, musical-dramatic intermedi , processions, and tournaments that celebrated the wedding; the artists, musicians, and architects who created and organized the events; and the bureaucratic administration that sustained this Renaissance "theater of the world." His sources include producers' daily logbooks and detailed records of the design process, staff, payments, and logistics, as well as eighty-eight set and costume drawings, paintings, and prints, which appear in a catalogue included in the book. Saslow's study will be of interest to practitioners and historians of theater, dance, music, and the visual arts, as well as to students of political and economic history and cultural studies. Frontmatter (page N/A) Acknowledgments (page ix) Introduction (page 1) 1 SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER 1588 The Creative, Management, and Public Relations Staffs (page 21) 2 NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 1588 Casting, Costumes, and Rehersals (page 49) 3 JANUARY & FEBRUARY, 1589 The Theater, the Scenery, the Artists (page 75) 4 MARCH 1589 Artisans, Stagehands, Technical Rehearsals; Christine's Outbound Journey (page 101) 5 APRIL 1589 Dress Rehearsals; Christine's Inbound Journey and Entry (page 121) 6 MAY 1589 The Wedding As/In Performance (page 148) 7 JUNE 1589 AND BEYOND Aftermath and Later Influence (page 174) CATALOGUE (page 189) APPENDIX Genealogical Tables, Valois-Habsburg, Medici (page 263) Notes (page 267) Bibliography (page 309) Sources of Illustrations (page 315) Index (page 317) The marriage of Grand Duke Ferdinando de' Medici to French princess Christine of Lorraine in 1589 became a landmark event in Renaissance art, theatre, and politics. This book combines art and social history to present the first comprehensive reconstruction of this month-long wedding celebration, providing a fascinating picture of Florentine culture at its zenith.
Reconstructing the Medici wedding between Grand Duke Ferdinando de' Medici and the French princess Christine of Lorraine, this work provides a narrative of this event, which lasted a month, and which was a landmark in Renaissance art and architecture, theatre, music and political ceremonial.