The Medici grand dukes and the art of conquest: Ruling identity and the formation of a Tuscan empire, 1537--1609

Even though the visual assertion of power, prestige, and dynastic identity through art patronage was a long-standing tradition for the Medici in Florence, Cosimo I (r. 1537-1564) and his son Ferdinando 1 (r. 1587-1609) were extraordinarily successful at the manipulation of art as political propaganda. The years 1537-1609 marked a crucial period of territorial expansion and military conquest for the ruling family, resulting in the formation of a unified, absolutist state, the grand duchy of Tuscany.;Scholars have overlooked the importance placed by Cosimo and Ferdinando on commissions in the subject cities of their dominio, and as a result, how the formation of a unified Tuscan state affected the visual assertion of dynastic power and ruling identity. My study addresses this lacuna by focusing on two significant sites of Medici patronage during their reigns, one in the center and one in the periphery: the Palazzo Vecchio and the surrounding Piazza della Signoria in Florence, and the Piazza dei Cavalieri, specifically the Palazzo dei Cavalieri and the church of Santo Stefano, in Pisa.;Pisa was unique among the cities of the dominio because it was the headquarters of the order of Santo Stefano, an aristocratic knightly brotherhood founded by Cosimo in 1562 to defend the church and the one true faith against the infidel. Under the guidance of Cosimo and Ferdinando, Pisa became a crucial arena for the articulation of Medici power. The popularity of imagery related to the Cavalieri, not only in Pisa but throughout Tuscany, and the sheer number of highly visible monuments connected to the order that were commissioned by the grand dukes clearly illustrates the potency of this iconography.;Despite scholars' long-held belief that Cosimo was the true dynast, previously neglected visual evidence suggests that Ferdinando was even more devoted to the production of artistic propaganda in the family's service. Employing the imagery of the Cavalieri, Ferdinando fashioned a truly imperial identity for the grand dukes. He established an art of conquest so potent that it affected the imagery of the following generations of Medici rulers as well as of ruling dynasties throughout seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe.