Theaters of power: Francesco I d'Este and the spectacle of court life in Modena.

摘要

Francesco d'Este, the Duke of Modena between 1629 and 1658, reshaped the identity of the Este dynasty through his patronage of permanent and ephemeral works of art and architecture. His ambitions were fired by the exile of his family from Ferrara in 1598, when Pope Clement VIII claimed the town after disputing the legitimacy of the Este heir, and by the struggle for power in Italy between France and Spain. The dissertation analyzes the genesis and reception of four kinds of ducal commissions: portraits, palaces, festivals, and theaters. These works fall within established patronage traditions, but Francesco's methodical selections reveal a dialogue between Modena and the courts of Northern Italy, Rome, France, and Spain. Understood in this international political and social context, the patronage of Francesco d'Este illustrates the role accorded to images in the formulation of absolute power.;Seventeenth-century manuscripts, correspondence, and printed pamphlets allow a reconstruction of Francesco d'Este's artistic program as well as the courtly audiences for his works. Papal Rome inspired enduring projects in Modena, such as Bernini's bust and the palace plans by Rainaldi and Avanzini, while northern Italy was a fertile source for the innovative public and private spectacles of the Emilian engineer Gaspare Vigarani.;The persuasive artistic package assembled by the Este duke raises questions about the representation of absolute power in the seventeenth century. Francesco's works influenced the early patronage of Louis XIV in Paris, where Bernini sculpted a portrait bust, Italian architects critiqued palace designs, and Vigarani designed the Salle des Machines which duplicated the form of the Modenese theater. However, Francesco d'Este's permanent projects remained incomplete and he relied primarily upon temporary artistic and architectural means to proclaim an authority which the Este family would in fact never possess. By examining these works, we can better understand the small revolution in princely style that occurred in seventeenth-century Modena.