Promoting an Artist as an Integral Part of Diplomatic Networking: Chiappino Vitelli and Federico Zuccari at the Court of Queen Elizabeth I
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/LEGATIO.2020.09Keywords
Gift, diplomacy, Italy, diplomatic networking, Elizabeth I, Chiappino Vitelli, Federico ZuccariAbstract
In the field of study on relations between Italy and Flanders in the second half of the sixteenth century, the military leader Gian Luigi, better known as Chiappino, Vitelli (1520–75) deserves special attention. Trusted man of Cosimo I de’ Medici and maestro di campo generale of the Spanish armies in Flanders since 1567, he was among the protagonists of the first ten years of the Dutch Revolt.
Based on the identification of new archival documents, this essay aims both to broaden the sphere of investigation and deepen the understanding of the role of Chiappino in cultural exchanges between Florence, the Habsburg’s and Elizabeth I’s courts. At the same time, it is aimed to draw attention to the political and cultural dynamics in which Chiappino Vitelli’s action towards the English Queen is embedded. From the documents, it clearly emerges how Vitelli took advantage of his role to earn the favour of the sovereign and, in addition to his loyalty, he did not hesitate to offer her the most varied of gifts, such as animals, weapons and artists, such as the painter Federico Zuccari, who reached Flanders in 1574. Zuccari’s sending to the English court should be interpreted as an attempt by the military leader to gain the favour of Elizabeth I when the support of the courts of Florence and Madrid seemed to be lacking, especially after the death of Cosimo de’ Medici and the replacement of the Duke of Alba as governor of Flanders.
References
Archival Sources
Florence, Archivio di Stato
Rondinelli Vitelli, b. 1
Mediceo del Principato (MdP), vols 649, 650, 651, 1175, 4903
Florence, Biblioteca Moreniana
fondo Moreni, MS 28, Lorenzo Borghesi, Vita di Chiappino Vitelli
San Giustino, Archivio Bufalini
degli Azzi, b. 140
Secondary Works
Acidini, Cristina, Taddeo e Federico Zuccari fratelli pittori del Cinquecento (Milan: Jandi Sapi, 1998), vol. 2
Arfaioli, Maurizio, ‘Alla destra del Duca: la figura di Chiappino Vitelli nel contesto degli affreschi vasariani del Salone dei Cinquecento’, Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz, 51 (2008), 271–78
Arfaioli, Maurizio, ‘Sofonisba Anguissola, Francesco de’ Medici and Chiappino Vitelli: a lady-in-waiting, a prince and a general at the Spanish court’, in The Grand Ducal Medici and their Archive 1537–1743, ed. by Alesio Assonitis, Brian Sandberg (London: Brepols Publishers, 2016), pp. 117–22
Baglione, Giovanni, Le vite de’ pittori, scultori et architetti. Dal Pontificato di Gregorio XIII del 1572 in fino a’ tempi di Papa Urbano VIII nel 1642 (Rome: Andrea Fei, 1642)
Bajetta, Carlo Maria, ‘Elizabeth I, Chiappino Vitelli and Federico Zuccaro’, Notes and Queries, 60 (2013), 386–91
Bajetta, Carlo Maria, Elizabeth I’s Italian Letters (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017)
Borghini, Raffaello, Il Riposo (Florence: Marescotti, 1584)
Bunes Ibarra, Miguel Ángel de-Madroñal, Abraham, ‘Una carta jocosa inédita de Francisco de Aldana y nuevos datos parasu biografía’, Revista de filología Española, 90, no. 1 (2010), 9–45
Calonaci, Stefano, ‘Cosimo I e la corte: percorsi storiografici e alcune riflessioni’, Annali Di Storia Di Firenze, 9 (2015), pp. 57–76
Ciliberti, Galliano, Il Teatro degli Accademici Illuminati di Città di Castello (Firenze: Olschki, 1995)
Contini, Alessandra, ‘Aspects of Medicean Diplomacy in the sixteenth century’, Politics and Diplomacy in Early Moderm Italy. The Structure of Diplomatic Practice, 1450–1800, ed. by Daniela Frigo (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 49–94
Crinò, Anna Maria, ‘Documenti relativi a Pietro da Cortona, Ciro Ferri, Pietro Tacca, Pier Maria Baldi, Il Guercino e Federigo Zuccaro’, Rivista d’arte, 34 (1959), 151–57
Crinò, Anna Maria, ‘Un altro memoriale inedito di Roberto Ridolfi’, La Bibliofilía, 57 (1955), 148–55
Laugier, Cesare de, ‘Chiappino Vitelli’, Giornale militare italiano, 3(1846), 17–19
Lettenhove, Constantin Kervin de, Relations Politiques des Pays-Bas Et de l’Angleterre, Sous le Règne de Philippe II (Brussels: Hayez, 1886), vol. 5
Edwards, Francis, The Marvellous Chance: Thomas Howard, fourth duke of Norfolk and the Ridolphi plot, 1570–1572 (London: Hart-Davies, 1968)
Gamberini, Diletta, ‘La “concucia nana” di Federico Zuccari: critica d’arte in versi all’ombra del Giudizio Universale per la cupola di Santa Maria del Fiore’, Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz, 59, no. 3 (2017), 362–87
Gere, John Arthur, Philip Pouncey, Italian drawings in the British Museum, Artists working in Rome (London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1983)
Goldring, Elizabeth, ‘An Important Early Picture Collection: The Earl of Pembroke’s 1561/62 Inventory and the Provenance of Holbein’s ‘Christina of Denmark’, Burlington Magazine, 144 (2002), pp. 157–60
Goldring, Elizabeth, ‘Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl of Leicester for Kenilworth Castle’, Burlington Magazine, 147 (2005), 654–60
Kamen, Henry, Il duca d’Alba (Torino: Utet, 2006)
Lazzari, Francesco Ignazio, Il trionfo della religione cattolica nell’Inghilterra opera scenica del signor Francesco Ignatio Lazzari Accademico Illuminato di Città di Castello (Forlì: Saporetti, 1669)
Lorenzoni, Martina, ‘Federico Zuccari e il Breviario Grimani’, Saggi e memorie di storia dell’arte, 39 (2015), 7–29, 238
Mavilla, Francesca, ‘“Sua signoria è qua in molta buona riputatione con ciascuno”: Chiappino Vitelli e i fratelli Guicciardini’, Horti Hesperidum, 8, no. 1 (2018), 321–48
Mavilla, Francesca, ‘Committenti e collezionisti tra l’Italia e le Fiandre, il ruolo di Paolo e Chiappino Vitelli nel contesto artistico e culturale del Cinquecento’ (unpublished doctoral dissertation, Università degli Studi di Perugia, 2016)
Nievas Rojas, Adalid, ‘Nuevos datos para la biografía de Francisco de Aldana (II). Primera etapa en Flandes (1567–1571)’, Boletín de la Real Academia Española, 100, no. 321 (2020), 147–206
Parker, Geoffrey, ‘The Place of Tudor England in the Messianic Vision of Philip II of Spain: The Prothero Lecture’, Transactions of Royal Historical Society, 12 (2002), 167–221
Promis, Carlo, Biografie di ingegneri militari italiani dal secolo XIV alla metà del XVII (Torino: Fratelli Bocca, 1874)
Ramsay, George Daniel, The Queen’s Merchants and the Revolt of the Netherlands (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1986)
Sewter, Albert Charles, ‘Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth’, Burlington Magazine, 76, no. 444 (1940), 73–76
Strada, Famiano, Histoire de la guerre de Flandre (Paris: Antoine de Sommaville, 1651)
Strong, Roy Colin, ‘Federigo Zuccaro’s Visit to England in 1575’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 22 (1959), 359–60
Van den Heuvel, Charles, “Papiere Bolwerken” de introductie van de Italiaanse steden vestingbouw in de Nederlanden (1540–1609) en het gebruik van tekeningen (Alphen aan den Rijn: Canaletto, 1991)
Mander, Karel van, Le vite degli illustri pittori fiamminghi, olandesi e tedeschi, ed. by Ricardo de Mambro Santos (Sant’Oreste: Apeiron Editori, 2000)
Wyatt, Michael, The Italian encounter with Tudor England: a cultural politics of translation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005)
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 308
Number of citations: 0