Acknowledgements

Fiorani, Francesca

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Acknowledgements

Francesca Fiorani

The Marvel of Maps: Art, Cartography and Politics in Renaissance Italy

~This book acquired a temporal and geographical extension that I could never have anticipated when I started it in Rome years ago. Along the way, I accumulated immense debts of gratitude towards the many friends and scholars who shared their insights and criticism. First and foremost, I thank the late Corrado Maltese who, in myriad Roman conversations,...

Author

Francesca Fiorani

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22610

Acknowledgements

This book acquired a temporal and geographical extension that I could never have anticipated when I started it in Rome years ago. Along the way, I accumulated immense debts of gratitude towards the many friends and scholars who shared their insights and criticism. First and foremost, I thank the late Corrado Maltese who, in myriad Roman conversations, initiated me to the intricacies of art and science and left a lasting mark on the way I look at Renaissance art. Later, Marisa Dalai Emiliani read parts of the project and her comments stayed with me for a decade. In 1993 I was fortunate enough to spend a few intense months at the Warburg Institute in London, where the project further developed; there, I also met the historians of cartography with whom I maintained a lively dialogue throughout the years. I particularly benefited from the exchanges with Catherine Delano Smith, who sustained my work from the very early stages, with Peter Barber and Tony Campbell, who kept asking probing questions, and with Denis Cosgrove, whose perceptive insights inform large parts of this book. The late David Woodward offered his expertise and encouragement over the years, and I wished he could have seen the final result.

This book acquired its final form in Virginia, where the contingencies of life brought me ten years ago. At the University of Virginia I found a congenial group of colleagues and a community of Renaissance scholars who, thankfully, did not spare me their criticism. Paul Barolsky offered unfailing support and generously shared his time, his mind, and the writer’s craft. David Summers’s invaluable comments came at critical moments. Anne Schutte asked a particularly perceptive question, which I could answer only by reshaping half of the book. Mary McKinley read the manuscript in an earlier incarnation. Erik Middlefort clarified fundamental points in brief, pointed conversations. Lawrence Goedde, Chair of the Art Department, facilitated the completion of this book in more ways that he can imagine. Two successive Deans of the College of Arts and Science, Melvyn Leffler and Edward Ayers, and the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies supported this project with numerous research grants over the years.

For its final polishing the book returned to Rome and London. Particularly inspiring have been the conversations with Nadia Cannata, Rossella Caruso, Claire Farago, Monica Martinat, and Tatiana String on the underlying assumptions of this book. Nicola Courtright, Judith Field, and Thomas Frangenberger shared their insight on the life and work of Egnazio Danti. With Giorgio Mangani I had fruitful conversation on moral cartography, while Lucia Nuti and Cesare De Seta helped to sharpen my thoughts on the language of cartographic representation. Evelyn Edson answered questions on medieval maps and Barbara Wisch was a guide on Gregory XIII. Konrad Eisenblicher generously translated an intractable poem. Claudia Cieri Via and Ingrid Rowland gave me the chance to bring my work back to Rome. My thanks go also to the four anonymous readers of the manuscript for their sharp comments.

It is a great pleasure to express my gratitude to the institutions and foundations that generously contributed to the making of this book. Fellowships from the Ministero dell’Universitá e della Ricerca Scientifica and the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche in Italy enabled me to conduct the bulk of the research in the early 1990s. In 1997 my research was further supported by the American Council for the Learned Societies and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 1993–1994 fellowships at the Warburg Institute (London), The Herzog August Bibliothek (Wolfenbüttel), the John Carter Brown Library (Brown University), and the Folger Shakespeare Library (Washington D.C.) provided ideal conditions for research and writing. A Postdoctoral Fellowship in the History of Art and the Humanities from the Getty Research Center in 2000–2001 gave me the peace of mind to complete the book.

My special thanks go to Francesco Buranelli, Director of the Vatican Museums, for greatly facilitating the production of this book. His support and the invaluable assistance of his staff at the Archivio Fotografico, especially Rosanna Di Pinto, made this book possible.

In addition, I wish to thank the the Archivio di Stato in Rome, Florence, Mantua, and Perugia for facilitating my research, and the numerous museums and libraries from around the world that granted me access to their collections and permission to reproduce their artifacts: in Basel, the Offentliche Bibliothek, Universität; in Bologna, the Biblioteca Comunale dell’Archiginnasio, the Biblioteca Universitaria and the Pinacoteca Nazionale; in Boston, the Houghton Library at Harvard University; in Charlottesville, The University of Virginia Library; in Chicago, The Newberry Library; in Florence, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, the Comune di Firenze, and the Soprintendenza Speciale al Polo Florentino; in Leiden, the Universiteitsbibliotheek; in New Haven, the Yale University Library and the Yale Center for British Art; in New York, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum; in London, the British Library and the British Museum; in Paris, the Bibliothèque Nationale; in Princeton, Princeton University Library; in Providence, the John Carter Brown Library; in Rome, the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, the Musei Vaticani, the Biblioteca Hertziana, and the Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico L. Pigorini; in Washington D.C., the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Parts of this book have appeared in shorter and altered form elsewhere: “Post-tridentine ‘Geographia sacra’: The Galleria delle Carte Geografiche in the Vatican Palace”, in Imago Mundi, 48, 1996, 124–148; “Maps, Politics and the Grand Duke of Florence. The Sala della Guardaroba Nuova of Cosimo I de’ Medici”, in Renaissance Representations of the Prince. Basilike Eikon, eds. Roy Eriksen and Magne Malmanger, Rome, 2001, 73–102; “La Sala Bologna di Gregorio XIII”, in Tra oriente e occidente. Iconografia delle citta’ europee, ed. Cesare De Seta, Naples, 2004.

At Yale University Press, I was fortunate enough to enjoy the support of Gillian Malpass, who believed in this book from the very start, and to work with Laura Bolick, who sharply edited the manuscript, designed the book, and saw it into press.

Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to my family. My parents, Paola and Paolo Fiorani, were a constant source of personal support. With Vera, Laura, Brenno, and Lorenzo I shared the liberating good humor that cements siblings.

My sons, Paolo and Davidi, were born in the midst of this project. Their cheerfulness and demands kept things in perspective and, for this, I cannot thank them enough.

This book is dedicated to Alon Confino for reasons that are too deep and too many to enumerate.

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