Maria Salviati
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Maria Salviati | |
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Lucrezia di Lorenzo de' Medici |
Maria Salviati (17 July 1499 – 29 December 1543) was a
Life
Maria Salviati was born in Florence. She descended from two of Florence's most powerful banking families: the Salviati on her father's side, and the de' Medici on her mother's. Her maternal grandfather was Lorenzo "il Magnifico".
When her cousin,
Bia de' Medici
Maria set up residence at
Cosimo married
Maria died one year after Bia on 29 December 1543.
Portrait of Maria Salviati with Giulia de' Medici
In the portrait called "Maria Salviati with Giulia de' Medici", there are many theories on who the portrait portrays. However, the almost universally accepted portrait is the one depicted by Pontormo in 1543-1544.[3] The different theories arise from the overpainting of the portrait as well as the views of different sellers.
At the end of the nineteenth century, the work was attributed to Piombo where the portrait looked different by the child being taken out and the single women identified as being Vittoria Colonna.[3] In 1937, the overpaint done by Piombo was removed, revealing the child where Edward S. King (1940) believed the child to be a boy publishing it as the work of Maria Salviati and Her Son Cosimo.[3][4] Others came forward disagreeing with the sex of the child based on the King's argument. It was not until 1992, where Gabrielle Langdon proposed the painting of the child to not only be a girl, but Giulia de' Medici. He was able to discover this based on the different attributes the painting held. He pointed out that the child was under the age of 7, the connection between the bare throat of Maria's and the child is strong showing femininity, as well as being shown as vulnerable under the protection of Maria Salviati.[3]
Ancestors
Descendants
Salviati's descendants became crowned figureheads of Europe over the succeeding generations. Her grandson
Maria Salviati |
Son: Grand Duke of Tuscany
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Grandson: Francesco I de' Medici Grand duke of Tuscany |
Great-granddaughter: Queen of France
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Great-Great-granddaughter: Queen of England
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Great-Great-Great-granddaughter: Duchess of Orleans
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Influence on Medicine
Maria Salviati had an influence on medicine that is not as pronounced as other aspects of her life. Her influence with medicine is expressed in daily care routine and critical decision making which brought her into contact with many different professionals of medicine.[5] The beginning of her interaction with medicine took place in the 1530-1540's as a household healer. Her familiarities arose in remedies and health regimens which left impacts on pharmacy, pediatrics, and local healing. [5] It was believed that Maria Salviati, with her social standing, had access to information that promoted health literacy such as manuscripts. Most of them being handwritten recipe books that provided a basis for medical authority for women in order to navigate problems and pharmaceutical practices.[6] One of the more significant recipe books believed to be in Salviati's hand was an Italian recipe book compiled by Caterina Sforza (1463-1509), her mother-in-law. [5] Part of the book contained recipes for powders and pills to cure fever, elixirs to strengthen the body, and concoctions to help with infection. With this underlying knowledge of remedies, Salviati was able to experiment and develop a "secrete" remedy for intestinal worms which were found mostly in children. [7]
Maria Salviati's influence in medicine abundant with pediatrics. With her medical knowledge, she partook in overseeing practices with
The Death of Maria Salviati
Syphilis became a prominent disease around the time of Maria's existence. Maria Salviati's skeletal remains showed skeletal lesions, corresponding to effects syphilis has in the third stage of the infection.[8] In the 1540s, Maria started to decline in health where the court physician, Andrea Pasquali, included symptoms such as recurring proctorrhagia, headaches, and rectal and perianal ulcers.[8] To further back the evidence of Maria's effect with syphilis, scientists and archeologist exhumed her skeletal remains and performed studies. Studies showed that Maria had lytic brain lesions in her skull which strongly suggest tertiary syphilis.[8]
References
- ^ a b c For information on portraits of Maria Salviati see Carl Brandon Strehlke, Pontormo, Bronzino, and the Medici: The Transformation of the Renaissance Portrait in Florence (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2004) cats. 30 and 46.
- ISBN 9780802095268.
- ^ ISBN 0894682857.
- ^ Langdon, Gabrielle. "Pontormo and Medici Lineages: Maria Salviati, Alessandro, Giulia and Giulio de' Medici". RACAR: Revue d'art Canadienne/ Canadian Art Review. 19 (1): 20–40.
- ^ ISBN 9780674241749.
- ISBN 9781138250529.
- ^ Pieraccini, Gaetano. "La Stirpe de' Medici di Cafaggiolo". 1: 471.
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(help) - ^ a b c Antonio, Fornaciari (June 2020). "Syphilis in Maria Salviati (1499-1543), Wife of Giovanni de' Medici of the Black Bands". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sources
- Langdon, G. (2006). The Medici Women- Portraits of Power, Love , and Betrayal. University of Toronto Press.
- Tomas, Natalie R. (2003). The Medici Women: Gender and Power in Renaissance Florence. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISBN 0754607771.
See also
- Ancestors of Cosimo I de Medici