Catalina de Médiciarte y poder al servicio de una reina

Abstract

The thesis presented below takes us into artistic patronage and meaning and its importance in the construction of the image of power of Catherine de Medici, queen of France. To achieve this purpose it has been necessary to enter the marital space in which women should move in general, as well as the specific characteristics affecting the wives and widows of the monarchs of that moment, without forgetting the social economic and political context of the sixteenth century. The general goals of this study delve into the birth and vital development of the young Italian to understand her involvement in artistic patronage. For this we have investigated her arrival to the throne of the French monarchy, without forgetting the circumstances of the Valois dynasty from which she will learn, in part, the importance of the meaning of artistic works and will lead her to become one of the most relevant patrons of the European courts of his time and of the later centuries. As for its specific objects and as a novelty contributed to academic knowledge, we deepen the feeling and the environment that accompanied Madame Serpente; how, from her position as a woman, foreigner and widow, she managed to use artistic directions not only to express her personal tastes but to perpetuate her prolific offspring as a legitimate heir to the throne of Valois. In this evolutionary analysis of her vital trajectory, it has been essential to stop in her role as a mother and wife whose conduct should be blameless, while also directing the designs of her country of adoption. The applied methodology has supposed a deep investigation on the bibliography that concerning our protagonist, discarding the untested information of the real one. We have immersed ourselves in the data of multiple scientific articles to adjust to the veracity of the contextualization of the 16th century in order to understand its iconographic choices and the importance it perceives in the possession of artistic commissions. Thus, it has been necessary to investigate the psychological feeling she perceived in self-promotion as a path on which to cement her power and her image as queen, woman and mother of a large family For this, the thesis has been divided into four sections in which the following aspects have been developed: Firstly, the state of the matter about the studies that have been carried out to date on Catherine de¿ Médici and the theme of her sponsorship. Subsequently, a brief parallel has been made between Catalina herself and other ladies of her time who, although, in some cases they did not reign, but they did have a capacity for decision and influence in their territory through a patronage in which they could project her personality and her political inclinations. Secondly, his childhood has been explored to understand the circumstances of his daily life, marriage and widowhood, as well as the general data of her biography but that will not be minor when it comes to understanding the character and circumstances that led her to occupy the highest rank of monarchical politics. Thirdly, there is a wide exposition about the instruments that she will use to make her decisions and to sustain the determination on which all her power was based. For example, motherhood, the rivalry with Diana de Poitiers and her husband's favorite, mythology or courtly celebrations are just some of the examples that show us how to project the messages that should reach abroad. In deepening the subject we can understand the reasons in which the lady is protected to highlight each of the aspects that make her be what she is in the eyes of others. In the last section, the function of her artistic patronage is analyzed not only to secure the throne of his offspring but also to distinguish herself from that of her eternal rival. She seeks to highlight her virtue against the one that does not conform to the commandments of the Church and in which, in some way, it serves to show the people her qualities as woman and as queen. This thesis, implicitly, highlights the goals and attitudes that were expected from her in front of her male counterparts. We seek to understand a complex century in which female sponsorship becomes an escape valve in front of male authority, an open window to expose their personal tastes, and a path of possibilities to cement their image of power and propagate the legitimacy of the dynasty that she and her descendants represent to the rest of the world.