Description:

Chicago, Newberry VAULT Case MS 6A 11
Giovanni Battista Strozzi
Strozzi Text Dedicated to Grand Duke Ferdinando II
Florence, between 1621 and 1634

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Background:

How does one praise a prince who can make few claims to military glory?  Giovan Battista Giovan Battista Strozzi the Younger (1551-1634) faced this problem when writing the dedication of an epistle in verse he had penned to honor Ferdinand II of Tuscany (1610-1670).  He chose to assert that virtue demands not envy of the triumphs of others, but rather to acknowledge them generously — and proceeded to praise Ferdinando II for his capacity to rejoice in the military victories of others, not least those of his father, Ferdinand I (1587-1609).

The author of this counter-intuitive encomium—which could be read as a blame—was a wealthy member of the Strozzi family, whose reputation in Florence stemmed from his activities as an academician (in particular among the Alterati), as well as from the poetry he circulated in manuscript.  Around the turn of seventeenth century, Strozzi began working on a series of epistles in verse, introduced by brief prose dedications, of which two manuscript collections now remain, the present Newberry Library volume and a volume held in Archivo di Stato in Florence (Carte Strozziane, 3^rd serie, 166).  The forty-five or so different poems they contained (some of which appear in both volumes) were addressed to individuals or groups that Strozzi was hoping to honor or please (members of the Medici and Barberini families, princes, academies, etc.).  Strozzi had the epistles carefully transcribed by one of his secretaries and made several rounds of corrections on them.  It is however unclear what the goal of his project was in assembling these texts.  Was it to ingratiate himself with people he already knew or to create new ties?  Did he hope his addressees would be honored to figure in such manuscript collections?  Was he seeking to publicize his own social and political connections?  Though the poet’s purposes remain mysterious, these volumes reveal encomiastic practices in Seicento Florence, while also providing a window into the networks and social practices of a well-connected Florentine literato.

• Déborah Blocker

Selected Bibliography:

• Barbi, Silvio Adrasto. Un accademico mecenate e poeta : Giovan Battista Strozzi il Giovane. Florence, G. C. Sansoni, 1900.
  
• Chater, James. “Poetry in the Service of Music: The Case of Giovambattista Strozzi the Younger (1551-1634)”.  The Journal of Musicology, 29/4, 2012, p. 328-384.
  
• Fortuna, Alberto M. “Catalogo dei Manoscritti gia’ della Collezione del Principe Strozzi e Posti in Vendita dalla Libreria Antiquaria L. Gonnelli & F., di Firenze”. 1966. Catalogue prepared in view of the sale of the Strozzi documents to the Newberry Library. Stored with the 29 volumes of Strozzi papers preserved in the Newberry Library and available upon request.
  
• Guasti, Cesare. Le Carte Strozziane del R. Archivio di Stato: Inventario. Florence, Tipographia Galileiana, 2 vols,1884-1891, in particular Cesare Guasti’s introduction, vol. 1, p. V-XXXIX.
  
• Rossi, Massimiliano. “Per l’unita delle arti. La Poetica ‘figurativa’ di Giovambattista Strozzi il Giovane”. I Tatti Studies, 4, 1995, p. 69-213.
  
• Rossini, Francesco. Antonio de’ Pazzi e Giovan Battista Strozzi: stanze in lode e in biasimo della donna, in Le forme del comico Atti delle sessioni parallele del XXI Congresso dell’ADI (Associazione degli Italianisti) Firenze, 6-9 settembre 2017 a cura di Francesca Castellano, Irene Gambacorti, Ilaria Macera, Giulia Tellini Firenze, Società Editrice Fiorentina, 2019.
  Item fully digitized here.