Vincenzo Danti and the Medici court : constructing professional identity in late Renaissance Florence

Vincenzo Danti (1530-1576), Perugian by birth and training, relocated to Florence in 1557 to work for the Medici court. While there, Danti completed visual and textual works oriented to the interests of Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici (1519-1574) and his son, Prince Francesco (1541-1587). Danti also participated in the literary and arts academies that were associated with the ducal program of establishing Florentine cultural supremacy. Danti’s multi-disciplinary activities during his tenure at the Medici court demonstrate his hopes to secure long-term patronage and to become the primary sculptor to the Medici dukes. This project represents both a reappraisal of Vincenzo Danti’s career and an examination of the ways that artists at the Medici court positioned themselves in relationship to their patrons and to one another.