The recent discovery of a dome painted by Antonio Puglieschi in the Mondragone Carnesecchi palace, representing Mars and Venus surprised by Vulcan, offers the occasion to reflect on the symbols used by Francesco I de’ Medici and Bianca Cappello. According to an ancient rumor, the clandestine love encounters between Francesco and Bianca had taken place in that very same palace and the depiction of the mythological infidelity may alluded to that relationship. The paper analyses different sources which show that Francesco was often portrayed as Mars and Bianca as Venus: specific attention is given to the detailed description of their wedding celebrations which revolved around the theme of the meeting and love of Venus and Mars. It’s possible that the Del Vernaccia family, who owned the palace and commissioned the painting to Antonio Puglieschi, wanted to remember and somehow celebrate events that took place in those rooms more than a century before.
Opificio Foundation, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0001-8760-7355
Chapter Title
Amori proibiti in palazzo Mondragone Carnesecchi. Un’inedita cupola di Antonio Puglieschi e una memoria medicea
Authors
Marco Betti
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-181-5.09
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2020
Copyright Information
© 2020 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Donum
Book Subtitle
Studi di storia della pittura, della scultura e del collezionismo a Firenze dal Cinquecento al Settecento
Editors
Marco Betti, Carlotta Paola Brovadan
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
308
Publication Year
2020
Copyright Information
© 2020 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-181-5
ISBN Print
978-88-5518-180-8
eISBN (pdf)
978-88-5518-181-5
Series Title
Studi e saggi
Series ISSN
2704-6478
Series E-ISSN
2704-5919