Images of Quattrocento Florence

Description

This anthology provides a panoramic view of fifteenth-century Florence in the words of the city’s own citizens and visitors. The fifty-one selections—many translated into English for the first time—offer fascinating glimpses into Renaissance thought. Together, the documents demonstrate the social, political, religious, and cultural impact Florence had in shaping the Italian and European Renaissance, and they reveal how Florence created, developed, and diffused the mythology of its own origins and glory. The documents point up the divergences in quattrocento accounts of the origins of Florence, and they reveal the importance of the city’s economy, social life, and military success to the formation of its image. The book includes sources that elaborate on the city’s accomplishments in literature and the visual arts, others that present major trends in Florentine religious life, and still others that attest to the acclaim and admiration that Florence evoked from foreign visitors. The editors also provide an informative introduction, a detailed chronology of fifteenth-century Italy, maps, photographs, an annotated bibliography, and a biographical sketch of the author of each document. CONTENTS Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction List of Classical Abbreviations Map of Italy Circa 1490 City Plan of Late Quattrocento Florence Chronology of Fifteenth-Century Florence PART ONE: ORIGINS 1. A Defense of the Roman Origins of Florence 2. The Republican Legacy 3. Inquiry into the Origins of Florence 4. So Depraved a Man as Julius Caesar Should Not Be Deemed the Founder of Florence 5. The Original Site of Florence Contrasted with its Present Splendor 6. The Only City Founded by Three Roman Generals PART TWO: HISTORY AND SOCIETY 7. Panegyric of Florence 8. The Structure of the Florentine Government 9. The Beauties of the Florentine Countryside 10. A Letter to Bartolommeo Cederni on Gambling at the Feast of St. John 11. A New Rome 12. A Critique of Cosimo's Florence 13. A Merchant's Praise of Florence 14. On the Celebrations for Pius II's and Galeazzo Maria Sforza's Visits to Florence 15. The City's Unparalleled Economic Prosperity 16. Lorenzo the Magnificent's Utopian State 17. The Glories of a New Golden Age 18. The Pazzi Conspiracy 19. A Condemnation of Lorenzo s Regime 20. The Entry of Charles VIII, King of France, into Florence PART THREE: LITERATURE 21. The Lives of Dante and Petrarch 22. Lives of the Illustrious Florentine Poets Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio 23. A Heavenly Vision After the Battle of Campaldino 24. The First Anthology of Vernacular Poetry 25. Proem to the First Edition of Dante's Divine Comedy 26. Florence Welcomes Dante upon His Return from Exile PART FOUR: ART 27. Giotto's Revival of Ancient Art 28. Giotto Brings Art out of the Dark Ages 29. The Marvel of Brunelleschi's Dome for the Cathedral of Florence 30. Brunelleschi and Donatello Discover Ancient Roman Treasures 31. Eminent Florentine Artists of the Quattrocento 32. An Account of the Great Local Artists 33. The Beauty of Florence Surpasses that of Ancient Athens 34. An Artistic Vade Mecum for the City of Florence PART FIVE: RELIGION 35. Tuscany as the Cradle of Christianity 36. Vision of the Future of Italy 37. A Prophecy of a New Age 38. The Consecration of the Cathedral of Florence 39. A History of Florentine Piety 40. A Guide to Florence's Holy Sites 41. A Treatise on the Florentine Government 42. An Epistle to the Fanciulli 43. Two Poems on Spiritual Renewal 44. The Rise and Fall of the Self-Made Prophet Girolamo Savonarola PART SIX: FLORENCE THROUGH FOREIGNERS EYES 45. Métropolite Isidore's Journey to the Council of Florence 46. The Heir to Roman Justice 47. Bittersweet Praise of Florence 48. A Celebration of Florentine Eloquence 49. Praise of the City Before Its Authorities 50. A Sketch of Florence and Its Domain 51. The Delights of the Medici Villa in Careggi Bibliography Index