The Medici Archive Project (MAP) is an independent research institute whose aim is to preserve and valorize the archives of the Medici dynasty, which comprise over fifteen million documents (many of them are featured in the MIA DATABASE). MAP also serves as a major academic hub for scholars and students worldwide in the field of Italian Renaissance and early modern studies.
In recent years, the paintings by Vasari and his workshop in the Palazzo Vecchio have been characterized as products of the recycling of imagery that he had previously developed and used elsewhere. This is said to have given these paintings a rather generic character and to have left them with little specific, topical content or meaning. By examining some of the most important paintings in the Sala di Leone X, this lecture demonstrates that rather the opposite is true. In these scenes, the recent history of the Medici was manipulated in such a way as to allude to important specific political and military positions and actions of the patron, Duke Cosimo I.
In recent years, the paintings by Vasari and his workshop in the Palazzo Vecchio have been characterized as products of the recycling of imagery that he had previously developed and used elsewhere. This is said to have given these paintings a rather generic character and to have left them with little specific, topical content or meaning. By examining some of the most important paintings in the Sala di Leone X, this lecture demonstrates that rather the opposite is true. In these scenes, the recent history of the Medici was manipulated in such a way as to allude to important specific political and military positions and actions of the patron, Duke Cosimo I.
Individuals who join Friends of MAP share in the thrill of historical discovery thanks to special experiences reserved just for them, including the MAP Forum (our online lecture series), and a host of other features such as weekly free lessons in reading Italian documents called “Friday Lunch Letters.”
