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Funeral Oratory at the Medici Court: the Representation of the First Grand Dukes
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1830-7728
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EUI MWP; 2008/20
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MENCHINI, Carmen, Funeral Oratory at the Medici Court: the Representation of the First Grand Dukes, EUI MWP, 2008/20 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/8730
Abstract
Over 420 works on the Grand Dukes of the Medici family were written in the two
centuries during which they ruled Florence and later all of Tuscany (1532-1737).
Funeral orations and biographies can be considered the main instruments in the process
of constructing the image of princehood. This article focuses on the texts used most
frequently, i.e. funeral orations. From the death of Cosimo I, in fact, the funeral oration
became a fundamental instrument for the legitimation of the dynasty and for the
diffusion of the themes that were considered important in order to reinforce monarchical
government in a city such as Florence that had been a republic for a long time. The
presentation of the figure of the ruler in these texts, which are full of rhetoric, changes
from the the founder of the dynasty, Cosimo I, to his first successors. This article aims
at highlighting these changes both in the formal structure and in the contents of these
texts in the period between Cosimo I (1574) and Cosimo II (1621). It points out that the
stress on specific themes varies due to the exigences of the dynasty in the different
historical moments and demonstrates the way the image of princehood mirrored the
political and cultural climate of the Medici court.