Women, Art and Architectural Patronage in Renaissance Mantua: Matrons, Mystics and MonasteriesAnalyzing the artistic patronage of famous and lesser known women of Renaissance Mantua, and introducing new patronage paradigms that existed among those women, this study sheds new light on the social, cultural and religious impact of the cult of female mystics of that city in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. Author Sally Hickson combines primary archival research, contextual analysis of the climate of female mysticism, and a re-examination of a number of visual objects (particularly altarpieces devoted to local beatae, saints and female founders of religious orders) to delineate ties between women both outside and inside the convent walls. The study contests the accepted perception of Isabella d'Este as a purely secular patron, exposing her role as a religious patron as well. Hickson introduces the figure of Margherita Cantelma and documents concerning the building and decoration of her monastery on the part of Isabella d'Este; and draws attention to the cultural and political activities of nuns of the Gonzaga family, particularly Isabella's daughter Livia Gonzaga who became a powerful agent in Mantuan civic life. Women, Art and Architectural Patronage in Renaissance Mantua provides insight into a complex and fluid world of sacred patronage, devotional practices and religious roles of secular women as well as nuns in Renaissance Mantua. |
Contents
Giacomo and Giulio Francia Madonna and Child Enthroned | 41 |
Margherita Cantelma and Isabella dEste | 45 |
Gian Cristoforo Romano attributed to Portrait of a Woman probably | 51 |
Margherita Cantelma Isabella dEste and | 65 |
Detail showing the Cantelma Monastery from the 1707 copy | 66 |
School of Giulio Romano Battista Covo? Cantelmo Monument in | 76 |
Suor Ippolita and Suor Paola Gonzaga in Mantua | 85 |
Presentday exterior of the former monastery of San Vincenzo | 91 |
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Common terms and phrases
altarpiece Amadei Appendix Archivio di Stato Augustinian Beata Osanna Andreasi Bologna Bonsignori Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga Cardinale casa Casale Casale Monferrato ch'el Chicago church Città convent Corpus Domini court d'Avalos daughter detto devotional Dominican Duca Ducati Duchess Duchess of Mantua Duke Early Modern Edited Ercole Gonzaga Federico II Gonzaga female Ferrante Ferrante Gonzaga Ferrara figliolo Florence Francesco Bonsignori Francesco II Gonzaga Ghisoni Gian Cristoforo Romano Giovanni Giulio Romano Grotta Illustrissima Isabella d'Este Isabella Gonzaga Item lassa letter Luzio Madonna Magdalene Mantova Mantua Marchesa Margherita Cantelma Margherita Paleologa Mario Equicola marriage Michelangelo Milan modo Monferrato Mortara morte nuns ogni anno painting Palazzo patronage Patrons piety portrait prefata Signora prefato Illustrissimo Signore quale quali religious Renaissance Renaissance Italy Rome saints San Giorgio San Vincenzo Sant'Andrea Santa Paola Sigismondo Signora Testatrice spiritual Suor Ippolita Suor Paola Testamento University Press Venice vita Vittoria Colonna vole widow widowhood Women