Initially intended to include documentary material pertaining to Renaissance and Early Modern painters, sculptors, and architects, this section was extended to all those prominent figures---scientists, doctors, scholars, and poets---whose life and works still inspire awe today.
There is a vast amount of documentary material on Siena in the Mediceo del Principato. Each month, Monte dei Paschi di Siena Fellows Drs. Elena Brizio and Stefano Dall’Aglio will add letters of historical importance relating to Sienese culture, food, wine, art, and religion. Particular attention will be paid to all those letters written around the time of Cosimo I’s siege of the city in 1555.
Populating our virtual Wunderkammer are all those documents in the Medici Granducal Archive that describe marvels of nature, rare objects or plants, exotic animals, scientific instruments, geological oddities, and antiquarian discoveries. Many of the items in this collection came from the New World or the Far East; some were found in the Medicis’ own backyard.
The Medici entertained a vibrant relationship with the House of Savoy. News from the Florentine ambassadors about artistic, religious, and political developments in Turin and Piedmont arrived to Florence almost everyday. Compagnia di San Paolo Fellow Roberta Piccinelli will update this section as she uncovers new facts regarding life at this important European court.
