Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-321) and index.
Contents:
Table of the Medici dynasty -- Introduction and global perspective of animal collecting and menageries -- Zoological collecting: practices of exchange and processes of procurement -- Menageries and aviaries in Medicean Florence -- The sport of the chase: "exotic hunts" -- Spectacles of slaughter and courtly pageants: exotic beasts as symbols of power and colonial ambitions -- Animal imagery in the service of political imaging -- Medici patronage and early modern naturalism: tensions between scientific and decorative naturalism -- The Ambrogiana series of animal paintings -- Conclusion.
Summary:
"The book examines the role rare and exotic animals played in the cultural self-fashioning and the political imaging of the Medici court during the family's reign first as Dukes of Florence (1532-1569) and subsequently as Grand Dukes of Tuscany (1569-1737). The book opens with an examination of global practices in zoological collecting, and cultural uses of animals. The Medici's activities as collectors of exotic species, the menageries they established and their deployment of animals in the ceremonial life of the court and in their art are examined in relation to this wider global perspective. The book seeks to nuance the myth promoted by the Medici themselves that theirs was the most successful princely seraglio in early modern Europe"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.