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![With agents all over the known world, it was relatively easy for the Medici, as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, to acquire whatever precious objects they so desired, and thus to bolster their fabulous collections of both antique and modern peculiarities. But what's better than an object with an esteemed provenance? In April 1581, Giovanni Battista Tebaldi wrote to Grand Duke Francesco I informing him about the sale of a collection that previously belonged to the esteemed Venetian writer Pietro Bembo. "You should know," Tebaldi wrote, "that Torquato Bembo [Pietro's son] has brought the beautiful relics of his father to Rome ... among which are medals, portrait busts, pictures, books, etc. Among these is a most ancient bronze panel, over three thousand years old, inscribed in the Egyptian manner."
This might have been the most exotic of the objects on offer, but others significant lots included Bembo's personal copy of the works of Petrarch, an autograph work of Angelo Poliziano addressed to Lorenzo de' Medici—things closer to home for the Florentine rulers.
But if none of these items are fitting to the Duke's taste, Tebaldi writes, he has news of other objects: "a beautiful alabaster vase with a cover and handles decorated with gold; an ancient enamel," and ancient rock-crystal jewellery for a lady. There was certainly no lack of choice for Ferdinando I.
ASF, Mediceo del Principato 746, f. 265r
MAP DocID: 14176
Transcribed by Anatole Tchikine
Magical Stele with Horus the Child, 360–343 BCE, in metagraywacke rather than in bronze. Met Museum.
#history #art #arthistory #collectionhistory #collecting #artcollection #antiquity #antuiqities #egypt #ancientegypt #reception #receptionhistory #artmarket #pietrobembo #florence #italy #firenze #italia](https://www.medici.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)