Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany
Ferdinando de' Medici | |
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Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany | |
Mother | Marguerite Louise d'Orléans |
Ferdinando de' Medici (9 August 1663 – 31 October 1713) was the eldest son of
Life
Ferdinando was born in the
Ferdinando had a great affinity with his vivacious mother. He was handsome, a fine horseman, and a talented musician. He sang melodiously and played the harpsichord. He was a master in counterpoint, which he studied under Gianmaria Paliardi of Genoa, and in various bowed instruments, which he studied under Piero Salvetti. He was known for his ability to play a piece of music at sight[3] and then repeat it faultlessly without looking at the music.[4]
Aside from music, Ferdinando's other principal delight was in intimate liaisons and affairs, often with men. These included Petrillo, a musician famous for his beauty, and Cecchino, a Venetian castrato. Ferdinando's uncle Francesco Maria de' Medici, only three years older, was a strong influence on his life.
In 1689 Ferdinando married Violante of Bavaria, the daughter of the
In 1696 Ferdinando sought recreation in Venice. He fell in love with a female vocalist called La Bambagia.[5] It is presumed that during the Carnival of Venice, Ferdinando contracted syphilis. Vittoria Tarquini, called La Bombace, the wife of the concertmaster Jean-Baptiste Farinel became the mistress of Ferdinando. (She may have been a daughter of Robert Cambert and had an affair with Handel.[6])
By 1710 his health had begun to fail, and the annual operatic productions at Pratolino under his aegis (see below) ceased.
Ferdinando died in 1713, having fathered no children. His father continued to rule until 1723, and was succeeded on his death by Ferdinando's younger brother Gian Gastone, who likewise died childless. The lack of fecundity in the family ultimately led to a crisis: after Gian Gastone's death in 1737, the great powers of Europe reassigned the Grand Duchy to Francis, the husband of Maria Theresa, thus ending the independence of the Tuscan state.
Legacy
Ferdinando's contemporary reputation rests on his role as patron of the arts. He was a
But it was as a patron of music that Ferdinando was most distinguished. He owned the
Among the musicians Ferdinando invited to Florence were
Ferdinando kept up correspondence with Alessandro Scarlatti about musical details in his operas, while producing five of his operas. In 1711
Ferdinando, Cristofori, and the piano
Ferdinando's most permanent legacy was the result of his decision in 1688 to hire Bartolomeo Cristofori, a harpsichord builder from Padua, as his keeper of musical instruments. (Ferdinando's collection was a large one, with over 75 items). The Prince's support of Cristofori included the money and time Cristofori needed to pursue his interests as an inventor. Cristofori responded with a series of new instruments. The first two, the oval spinet (1690) and the spinettone, were probably intended for Ferdinando to play the continuo part in musical productions at Pratolino. The third instrument Cristofori invented for Ferdinando was the piano, which spread slowly at first (see Fortepiano) but ultimately became one of the most important of all musical instruments. The invention of the piano is believed to have occurred in about 1700; Cristofori built several more pianos for Ferdinando during the remainder of the Prince's lifetime.
Gallery
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Grand Prince Ferdinando de Medici – Giovanni Battista Foggini (1683) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
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Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany – Giovanni Battista Foggini (1690) National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Ancestors
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Notes
- ^ "Fr9829". www.quadroframe.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
- ^ Acton, H. (1958) The Last Medici, p. 160.
- ^ Website in Italian and English Archived 8 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Acton, H. (1958) The Last Medici, p. 164.
- ^ Acton, H. (1958) The Last Medici, p. 210.
- ^ Harris, E. T. (2001) Handel as Orpheus: voice and desire in the chamber cantatas, p. 180.
- ^ Acton, H. (1958) The Last Medici, p. 259.
- ^ Holmes (1994, 23)
- ^ Holmes (1994, 24)
- ISBN 0-674-00617-8
- ^ "G. F. Handel's Life & Times, Part I: 1685-1721". Archived from the original on 25 December 2005. Retrieved 25 December 2005.
- ^ Dean, Winton & J. Merrill Knapp (1996) Handel's Operas 1704–1726. Clarendon Press Oxford, p. 80.
References
- Holmes, William (1994) Opera observed: views of a Florentine impresario in the early eighteenth century. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226349713.
Further reading
- Cesati, Franco (2005). "The twillight of the dynasty". In Monica Fintoni, Andrea Paoletti (ed.). The Medici: Story of a European Dynasty. La Mandragora s.r.l. pp. 131–132.