This thesis addresses the subject of two Medici family tombs designed by Andrea del Verrocchio for the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. One is the tomb of Cosimo de Medici and the other a dual tomb for his sons, Piero and Giovanni de Medici. In dealing with this subject, the paper discusses the Medicis rise to power in Florence, Verrocchios career leading up to the tombs, and the important relationship between the Medici and San Lorenzo.
The family donated lavishly to the rebuilding of the church and received in return spiritual aid and extraordinary burial sites. Upon first looking at these tombs, they seem beautiful, but simple. They are a stark visual contrast to the ornate Medici tombs in the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo that were later designed by Michelangelo. The tomb of Cosimo is marked with a simple floor slab in the crossing of the church, and the tomb of his sons in the Old Sacristy, though decorated with intricate bronzework, seems to be a rather modest monument in some respects. It is the work of this thesis to disprove these first impressions. Upon closer scrutiny, it becomes clear that Verrocchio and his patrons chose sumptuous materials, unusual locations within the church, and inspiration from classical sources to create enduring monuments that serve the purpose of not only memorializing the men, but also aiding their souls in the afterlife.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-11102004-115241 |
| Date | 11 November 2004 |
| Creators | Pell, Evelyn Diane |
| Contributors | Mark Zucker, Michael Crespo, Darius Spieth |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-11102004-115241/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
Page generated in 0.0015 seconds