This is the first dedicated study of the musical patronage of Roman baronial families in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Patronage – the support of a person or institution and their work by a patron – in Renaissance society was the basis of a complex network of familial and political relationships between clients and patrons, whose ideas, values, and norms of behavior were shared with the collective. Bringing to light new archival documentation, this book examines the intricate network of patronage interrelationships in Rome. Unlike other Italian cities where political control was monocentric and exercised by single rulers, sources of patronage in Rome comprised a multiplicity of courts and potential patrons, which included the pope, high prelates, nobles and foreign diplomats. Morucci uses archival records, and the correspondence of the Orsini and Colonna families in particular, to investigate the local activity and circulation of musicians and the cultivation of music within the broader civic network of Roman aristocratic families over the period. The author also shows that the familial union of the Medici and Orsini families established a bidirectional network for artistic exchange outside of the Eternal City, and that the Orsini-Colonna circle represented a musical bridge between Naples, Rome, and Florence.
1. L’orsa e la colonna: The Patronage of Felice Orsini and Marcantonio II Colonna 2 Paolo Giordano I Orsini as Patron of Music 3. Il refugio delle muse: Poetry and Music at the Court of Virginio Orsini, second Duke of Bracciano 4. Music at Mount Parnassus: The Patronage of Paolo Giordano II Orsini, Third Duke of Bracciano
Biography
Valerio Morucci began his career as a music historian in Rome, where he graduated with a laurea from the University of Rome. He then earned a PhD in musicology and criticism from the University of California at Davis. His articles are published in various international peer-reviewed journals. He is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Nevada (Reno), where he teaches courses in music and directs the Early Music Ensemble.
