Patronage and sponsorship

The book investigates the transformation of the architectural and visual language in Zadar eastern Adriatic town at the dawn of the early modern era when the mighty mediaeval commune was being transformed by the emerging governmental structures of the Republic of Venice. These events coincided with the Ottoman Empire's takeover of the hinterland of Dalmatian cities transforming Zadar into a city on the brink of two worlds.

A highly autonomous mediaeval commune was a lively trans-Adriatic artistic centre a network of builders painters and sculptors from Dalmatia Venice Marche and Lombardy so with the early adoption of humanist concepts by the local elite this practice continued. However the transformations the governmental structure and economic policies steadily limited its community autonomy and commercial sources. The crisis worsened in the 16th century when the local elites lost a large portion of their revenue from the fertile hinterland captured by the Ottoman Empire.

This launched an ongoing militarisation of social structures and fortifying the town.  These events were reflected in the fields of architecture and art. The process of adopting a new architectural and artistic language began in the second half of the 15th century as demonstrated by motifs in architectural decoration and sculpture with impulses from important Dalmatian sculptural and stonemasons’ circles as well as Venetian models from the circles of Pietro Lombardo and Mauro Codussi. When the new classical language of architecture began spreading in the middle of the 16th century it expressed mostly in the renovation of administrative structures with occasional departures from the stylistic canons of artistic centres.

This collection of essays is the first to focus exclusively on the Wittelsbach court of Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria (1493–1550). The contributors argue for a deeper understanding of this duke’s reign and acknowledge his crucial role in shaping the religious and cultural identity of the Duchy of Bavaria. By providing insights into the duke’s cultural aspirations the organisation of the court musical sources religious musical practice and everyday working life this book aims to: (1) situate the court of Wilhelm IV in the context of the religious and political upheavals of the early sixteenth century; (2) trace the development of the musical repertoire and personnel of the Bavarian court chapel between 1500 and 1550; and (3) critically assess the degree to which the Munich court could be considered ‘modern’ by re-evaluating the broader cultural religious and musical life of the court around 1520. The volume thus sheds light on the cultural ambitions of a duke who defined music and art as expressions of strategic elements that interwove tradition devotion and representation in a programme of governance based on humanist education—a duke whose foresight enabled the Munich court to quickly become one of the most prestigious and famous seats of power in the Holy Roman Empire.

On Michelangelo’s first day in Rome in June 1496 Cardinal Raffaele Riario asked him if he could create ‘something beautiful’ in competition with the antique. The twenty-one-year old sculptor responded to this unique challenge with the statue of Bacchus now in the Bargello museum. This statue as well as the Sleeping Cupid which first brought Michelangelo to Riario’s attention have long been shrouded in mystery and the Bacchus as well as its patron have long suffered from critical censure.

Through a comprehensive analysis of overlooked and previously-unpublished sources this study sheds new light on the Sleeping Cupid the Bacchusand a fascinating period in the history of Renaissance Rome when the careers of Riario Galli and Michelangelo were closely intertwined. It considers the rise of the Riario dynasty starting with the election of Pope Sixtus IV in 1471 Riario’s partnership with Jacopo Galli in the reconstruction of the palace now known as the Palazzo della Cancelleria the attempted sale of Michelangelo’s Sleeping Cupid in Rome as an antiquity Riario’s patronage of the Bacchus and the Bacchus’s displayin the house of the Galli up until its sale to the Medici in 1572. Taking a broad interdisciplinary perspective it offers a fundamental reassessment of Cardinal Riario’s career as a patron of Jacopo Galli’s role as an intermediary for both Riario and Michelangelo and of Michelangelo’s collaboration with Riario and Galli.

In the last few decades the study of women in the arts has largely increased in terms of scholars involved in research and investigation with the reception of the outcomes especially acknowledged by museums which are dedicating part of their mission to organizing exhibitions and/or acquiring the works of women. The Annual International Women in Arts Conference seeks to advance contemporary discussions on how female creativity has helped shape European culture in its heterogeneity since the Middle Ages. This volume collects the proceedings of the first conference organised in Rome in October 2021. It focuses on the role of women in literature art　and architecture. Throughout history these domains were often seen as very masculine. Yet there have been many women who have made their mark as writers illuminators artists and architects or have played a decisive role as patrons and supporters in these arts. This collection of essays aims to bring these women to the fore and sheds a new light on the heritage and legacy of women in the creative arts and architecture from the Middle Ages until the 20th century.