Beschreibung:

BORGHINI, Vincenzo (1515 - 1580), Prior of the Ospedale degli Innocenti, artistic adviser to Cosimo I de' Medici. 10 autograph letters signed, 1 letter signed with 2 lines of autograph, 1 letter signed with autograph subscription, and 3 lists of instructions to Giovanni Caccini, Provveditore in Pisa, Poppiano or Florence, 16 June 1564 -- 4 January 1567(n.s.) , most concerning the ephemeral monuments for the ceremonial entry into Florence of Joanna of Austria, bride of Francesco de' Medici on 16 December 1565, including discussions of cost, the progress and ability of the artists employed - Bronzino, Vincenzo de Rossi, Vasari, Ammanati, da San Gallo, Allori, Federigo Padovano etc - detailing features of the coats of arms, designs and inscriptions, charting progress and his anxieties - 'Dello arco dei Carnesecchi, io mi ci dispero che credo che sara mala cosa et forse non finita a tempo, che sara rovina', mentioning the difficulties 'et sempre si ha degli storpi con le materie: con quali huomini: con tempi: con danari: con ministri', and finally reporting on the demolition of the arches and seeking settlement of accounts months after the event, altogether approximately 31 and 1pages, 240 x 188 - 335 x 225 mm, , 4 with integral address leaves, 8 with address panels, 2 with integral blank leaves, all endorsed on receipt, 1 papered seal, 7 with traces of seal (occasional ink erosion and darkening of paper, 1 letter with careful repair in inner margin). Mounted on guards in an album, modern tan roan gilt (joints split head and foot). Borghini's literary, philological and antiquarian studies were interrupted in 1552 when Cosimo de' Medici appointed him head of the Ospedale degli Innocenti, the Florentine foundlings' hospital. It remained his most onerous occupation and he was regarded by his contemporaries above all else as Priore degli Innocenti, but it was in another area of service to Cosimo that he had a more widespread and enduring influence. In 1563 Cosimo named him luogotenente of the Accademia del disegno and Borghini held this position until his death. His first important undertaking in this capacity, in 1564, was to organise the funeral of Michelangelo. Borghini was a great friend of Giorgio Vasari - he had advised him on the Lives of the Artists - and the two men served as artistic advisers to the Duke; their ideas and preferences governing the choices of Florence's most important patron - to the rancour of some of their contemporaries, notably Benvenuto Cellini It was especially Borghini's role to utilise his literary and historical expertise in devising complex programmes of decoration - both for permanent schemes such as Palazzo Vecchio murals and for ephemeral 'apparati' for feste and public ceremonies. Vasari executed these invenzioni or, in the case of the large-scale projects, supervised their execution. The present letters and documents were part of Borghini's instructions for the scenic transformation of Florence for the entrata into the city of Joanna of Austria, bride of Cosimo's son and heir Francesco. Giovanni Caccini, the provveditore to whom these papers were addressed, was the man hired 'to solicit, oversee, and check work, putting it into order and taking delivery, as well as to keep order in the records and payments by type of work, and have them at hand every day, even every hour.' These papers complement the Libretto , Borghini's notebook (Florence, Bib. Naz. Cent. MS Magl.II.x,100), to provide an extraordinary record of the preparations for one of the greatest spectacles of Renaissance Florence. The marriage of Francesco to Joanna, the niece, daughter and sister of Holy Roman Emperors, was one of Duke Cosimo's greatest diplomatic triumphs, and a step towards his investiture with the Grand-Dukedom six years later. On 5 April 1565, within eight months of the conclusion of the marriage contract, Borghini presented the Duke with a programme for the series of decorative structures to be erected in Floren