| DOCUMENT DATE: |
30 October 1552
|
| FROM: |
"Ricordi" of Majordomo Pierfrancesco Riccio
|
| PLACE: |
Florence |
DOCUMENT CITATION:
Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Archivio Mediceo del Principato 600,
fol.114 r (Entry 7111 in the "Documentary Sources" database.)
TRANSLATION:
List of the jewels sent to His Excellency [Cosimo I de' Medici] on
this day 30 October 1552
The Ducal Crown in gold containing the jewels listed below
Nine large diamonds of various kinds-----------------------n.9
Eight rubies------------------------------------------------------n.8
Nine emeralds---------------------------------------------------n.9
In a box:
| Four large diamonds of various kinds--------------------------------n.4 |
|
^set in gold^
|
| Four large rubies-----------------------------------------------------n.4 |
|
^set in gold^
|
A large ruby mounted in gold----------------------------------n.1
A
gold lily with 4 rubies and 3 emeralds and 3 diamonds--n.
In a case of purplish leather:
A pendant with two small gold figures set with a ruby and an
emerald------------------------------------------------------n.
In a case of reddish-brown leather:
A pendant with two enamelled small figures without jewels-----n.
A pendant with two capricorns and small figures in gold without jewels
and without a case----------------------------------------------n.
All of the jewels listed above were placed in a box in the jewel chest
and sent to Pisa to His Excellency [Cosimo I de' Medici] with the
key and the list addressed to Messer Thomaso de Medici, on the stated
day.
TRANSCRIPTION::
Nota delle gioie mandate a S. Ex.a [Cosimo I de' Medici] addì 30
d'ottobre 1552
La corona Ducale d'oro dentrovi legate le infrascripte gioie
Nove diamanti grandi di più qualità--------------------------------n.o
9
Octo rubini---------------------------------------------------------------n.o
8
Nove smeraldi-----------------------------------------------------------n.o
9
In una scatola
| Quattro diamanti grandi di più qualità -------------------------n.o
4 |
|
^legati in oro^
|
| Quattro rubini gran---------------------------------------------n.o
4 |
|
^legati in oro^
|
Uno rubino grande in castone d'oro-----------------------------n.o
1
Uno giglio d'oro con 4 rubini et 3 smeraldi et 3 diamanti-n.o
In una cassa di quoio pagonazzo
Un pendente con 2 figurette d'oro legatovi dentro un rubino et uno
smeraldo-----------------------------------------------------------n.o
In una cassa di cuoio tanè
Un pendente con 2 figurette smaltato senza gioie-----------n.o
Uno pendente con 2 capricorni et figurette d'oro senza gioie e senza
cassa---------------------------------------------------------------n.o
Tutte le sopradette gioie in una scatola et messe nel cassone delle
gioie et mandate a Pisa a S. Ex. [Cosimo I de' Medici] indiritta la
chiave et la nota a ms. Thomaso de Medici detto dì
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
In the Medici correspondence, we find lists and inventories of every
description, detailing all the necessities of daily life at court,
including clothing, tableware, bedding, foodstuffs and even--as in
the present case--the Florentine Crown Jewels. In the mid-sixteenth
century, the Medici Court (like all the courts of Europe) was peripatetic,
moving from palace to villa to palace throughout the realm. A major
responsibility of the Florentine administration was supplying the
needs of the Duke's retinue, making sure that required objects were
in the right place at the right time.
Due to its mild climate, Pisa often served as the winter capital of
the Medici state, hosting sumptuous Christmas and New Year's festivities.
Though the jewelry in question might well have been destined to ornament
a court celebration, its movement at this particular time could have
had another meaning as well. In these years, the Medici jewels were
in and out of pawn, as Cosimo scrambled to meet the financial needs
of his overextended and underfinanced regime. A few weeks later, on
27 November 1552, we find Majordomo Riccio also sending Duke Cosimo
in Pisa "an oblong flat emerald mounted in gold", reclaimed from the
banker Bernardo da Ricasoli (Mediceo del Principato 600, fol.115.)
The chief gems in this list were accounted for independently of the
objects they embellished since they were popped in and out of their
settings, moved from one piece to another and indeed, despatched to
bankers in Florence, Genoa or elsewhere to secure loans. The "giglio"
was (and is) the emblem of Florence, so the "gold lily with 4 rubies
and 3 emeralds and 3 diamonds" might well have been an item of state
regalia. The evidently more modest "pendant with two capricorns and
small figures in gold without jewels" alludes to Cosimo I's sign of
the zodiac, an important element of his official iconography.
