The material and visual culture of pilgrimage in the Este Courts of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy
This dissertation focuses on the cultural patronage of the Este family in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy, particularly as it relates to their pilgrimage history. Drawing on chronicles, correspondence, inventories, and ecclesiastical records, my research shows that not only did pilgrimage con...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2024
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| _version_ | 1811141266459590656 |
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| author | Guzik, HM |
| author2 | Johnson, G |
| author_facet | Johnson, G Guzik, HM |
| author_sort | Guzik, HM |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This dissertation focuses on the cultural patronage of the Este family in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy, particularly as it relates to their pilgrimage history. Drawing on chronicles, correspondence, inventories, and ecclesiastical records, my research shows that not only did pilgrimage continue to be a prevalent undertaking among the Italian nobility beyond the late Middle Ages and into early modernity, but that—particularly for the Este family—it was a tool of political and social agency and a potent means of emphasising dynastic legitimacy. This dynamic translated to Este artistic patronage, and the art historical case studies in my dissertation—pilgrim badges depicted in an altarpiece donor portrait of Ercole I d'Este (1431–1505), pilgrims in the background of an allegorical painting in the private apartments of Alfonso I d'Este (1476–1534), and a pilgrim featured prominently in the decorative intarsia panels in the private apartments of Isabella d'Este (1474–1539)—underscore the ways in which pilgrimage iconography remained relevant as a personal dynastic reference, as a reminder of an ongoing devotional feature of courtly life, and as capable of bearing allegorical and moralizing messages. These case studies, each of which anchor a chapter of this dissertation, are heavily associated with their individual patrons, but they nevertheless provide valuable insights into how pilgrimage imagery could be incorporated into the deliberate self-fashioning of aristocratic patrons more generally, projecting both their lived experiences and their aspirational values to themselves, their subjects, and their peers. This project is a timely addition to a longstanding, but still growing corpus of scholarship contesting older prevailing narratives of pilgrimage's decline in early modernity, and its art historical case studies inspire questions about the broader connotations of pilgrimage iconography and the narrative functions it could serve in wider social contexts both in and beyond Italy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:35:09Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:7ded0878-ebff-4527-80bd-2c276e0e75d2 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:35:09Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:7ded0878-ebff-4527-80bd-2c276e0e75d22024-09-18T16:16:24ZThe material and visual culture of pilgrimage in the Este Courts of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century ItalyThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:7ded0878-ebff-4527-80bd-2c276e0e75d2Art--HistoryEnglishHyrax Deposit2024Guzik, HMJohnson, GThis dissertation focuses on the cultural patronage of the Este family in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy, particularly as it relates to their pilgrimage history. Drawing on chronicles, correspondence, inventories, and ecclesiastical records, my research shows that not only did pilgrimage continue to be a prevalent undertaking among the Italian nobility beyond the late Middle Ages and into early modernity, but that—particularly for the Este family—it was a tool of political and social agency and a potent means of emphasising dynastic legitimacy. This dynamic translated to Este artistic patronage, and the art historical case studies in my dissertation—pilgrim badges depicted in an altarpiece donor portrait of Ercole I d'Este (1431–1505), pilgrims in the background of an allegorical painting in the private apartments of Alfonso I d'Este (1476–1534), and a pilgrim featured prominently in the decorative intarsia panels in the private apartments of Isabella d'Este (1474–1539)—underscore the ways in which pilgrimage iconography remained relevant as a personal dynastic reference, as a reminder of an ongoing devotional feature of courtly life, and as capable of bearing allegorical and moralizing messages. These case studies, each of which anchor a chapter of this dissertation, are heavily associated with their individual patrons, but they nevertheless provide valuable insights into how pilgrimage imagery could be incorporated into the deliberate self-fashioning of aristocratic patrons more generally, projecting both their lived experiences and their aspirational values to themselves, their subjects, and their peers. This project is a timely addition to a longstanding, but still growing corpus of scholarship contesting older prevailing narratives of pilgrimage's decline in early modernity, and its art historical case studies inspire questions about the broader connotations of pilgrimage iconography and the narrative functions it could serve in wider social contexts both in and beyond Italy. |
| spellingShingle | Art--History Guzik, HM The material and visual culture of pilgrimage in the Este Courts of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy |
| title | The material and visual culture of pilgrimage in the Este Courts of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy |
| title_full | The material and visual culture of pilgrimage in the Este Courts of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy |
| title_fullStr | The material and visual culture of pilgrimage in the Este Courts of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy |
| title_full_unstemmed | The material and visual culture of pilgrimage in the Este Courts of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy |
| title_short | The material and visual culture of pilgrimage in the Este Courts of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy |
| title_sort | material and visual culture of pilgrimage in the este courts of fifteenth and sixteenth century italy |
| topic | Art--History |
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